LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 
ANN   GUEST 


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Authors  and  Publishers 

A  Manual  of  Suggestions 
for  Beginners  in  Literature 

Comprising  a  Description  of  Publishing  Methods 
and  Arrangements,  Directions  for  the  Prepara- 
tion of  MSS.  for  the  Press,  Explanations  of  the 
Details  of  Book-Manufacturing,  Instructions  for 
Proof-Reading,  Specimens  of  Typography,  the 
Text  of  the  United  States  Copyright  Law  and 
Information  Concerning  International  Copy- 
rights, Together  with  General  Hints  for  Authors 


By 

G.  H.  P.  and  J.  B.  P. 


Seventh  Edition 

Rewritten,  with  Additional  Material 


Cras  scribet  qui  nunquam  scripsit, 
Quique  scripsit  cras  scribet. 

The  Spectator  CLondon) 

ill  parody  of  the  "  Pervigilium  Veneris.' 


G.  P.  Putnam's  Sons.  New  York :  27  and  29 
West  Twenty-third  Street.  London  :  24  Bed- 
ford Street,  Strand.   ST^e  J^ntcktrbotktr  ^resa.    1897 


i\ 


Copyright,  1897 

BY 

G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall,  London 


Vbe  ftnickerbocket  prees,  Hat  ]|^tk 


■L 


LIBRARY 

UNr/E??S?TY  OF  C  ILIFOa 
S  Ai%  'i  A  A  AiJ  a  AHA 


preface  to  tbe  Seventb  BWtfon. 

THE  first  edition  of  this  manual  was  pub- 
lished in  1883.  There  has  been  for  the 
book  such  continued  demand  as  to  indicate 
that  the  information  and  suggestions  presented 
have  been  found  of  service  or  of  interest  not 
only  to  the  "beginners  in  literature,"  to  whom 
the  volume  was  more  particularly  addressed, 
but  to  some  of  the  older  members  of  the  liter- 
ary guild,  and  possibly  also  to  that  evanescent 
individual  known  as  **the  general  reader." 
There  seems  to  be  some  special  fascination  for 
a  considerable  proportion  of  the  community, 
in  matters  connected  with  the  production  of 
literature,  and  even  with  the  methods  of  the 
manufacture  and  distribution  of  books;  and 
the  large  measure  of  interest  shown  by  suc- 
cessive generations  in  the  reminiscences  of 
authors,  and  in  the  details  of  their  work,  in- 
dicates that  the  quidquid  agunt  scriptores  is  felt 
to  possess  a  greater  general  importance  than 
attaches  to  the  doings  of  workers  in  other  di- 
visions of  human  activity.     It  can  only  be  on 


111 


preface 


IV 


IPretace  to  tbe  Seventh  BMtion 


preface  some  such  ground  that  authors  have  so  fre- 
quently felt  justified  in  taking  the  public  into 
their  confidence  concerning  the  record  of  their 
business  relations,  and  in  regard  generally  to 
their  disappointments,  perplexities,  or  irrita- 
tions, details  which  other  classes  of  workers 
prefer,  as  a  rule,  to  consider  as  matters  personal 
to  themselves  and  to  their  business  agents. 

The  present  volume  undertakes  to  present, 
in  convenient  form  for  reference,  information 
concerning  the  several  methods  of  publishing 
arrangements,  the  various  matters  to  be  con- 
sidered, after  the  publishing  arrangement  has 
been  completed,  in  putting  the  book  through 
the  press,  and  the  measures  adopted,  after  the 
book  has  been  put  into  print,  in  finding  sale  or 
in  trying  to  find  sale  for  it. 

In  reshaping  the  material  for  this  revised  edi- 
tion, attention  has  been  given  to  certain  phases 
of  literary  and  publishing  methods  which  have 
come  into  existence,  or  which  have  come  into 
increased  importance,  since  the  manual  was 
first  issued,  fourteen  years  ago,  such  as  the 
development  of  authors'  societies,  and  the  use 
of  literary  agencies  and  "syndicates." 

I  ask  consideration  also  for  the  plan  I  have 
outlined  for  the  instituting  of  Literary  Courts 
or  Boards  of  Arbitration  to  which  could  be 
entrusted  the  determination  of  issues  arising 
between  authors  and  publishers,  authors  and 
authors,  and  publishers  and  publishers. 


preface  to  tbe  Serentb  BMtion 


It  is  undoubtedly  the  case  that  in  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  instances  in  which  literary 
workers  believe  themselves  to  have  had  cause 
for  complaint  or  for  dissatisfaction,  the  diffi- 
culty has  been  due  to  misapprehensions  or  to 
lack  of  information  in  regard  to  the  conditions 
and  necessary  limitations  of  the  business  of 
making  and  of  selling  books,  and  in  regard  to 
the  actual  rights  and  the  actual  obligations  of 
authors. 

If,  by  the  presentation  of  information  not 
heretofore  conveniently  accessible,  or  through 
the  explanation  of  conditions  which  are  fre- 
quently misunderstood,  this  manual  may  prove 
of  any  service  in  lessening  misapprehensions, 
and  in  furthering  harmony  of  relation  between 
the  authors  and  their  business  agents  and  re- 
presentatives, the  publishers,  the  purpose  of  its 
publication  will  have  been  accomplished. 


G.  H.  P. 


Neva  York,  March,  1897. 


preface 


- 

vii 

>° 

Contents 

PART  I. 

PAGE 

I. — Introductory      .... 

I 

Contents 

II. — Publishing  Arrangements    . 

J6 

BOOKS  PUBLISHED  AT  THE  RISK  AND  EXPENSE 

OF  THE  PUBLISHER. 

a.  The  Purchase  of  Copyright     . 

b.  The  Royalty  System 

c.  Payments  in  Lieu  of  Royalties 

d.  The  Half-Profit  System  . 

39 
44 
56 
57 

BOOKS  PUBLISHED  FOR  THE  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

AUTHOR,    i.e.,  AT   THE  AUTHOR'S   RISK 

AND  EXPENSE,  OR  IN  WHICH  HE  ASSUMES 

A  PORTION  OF  THE  INVESTMENT. 

a.  The  Author  Bears  the  Entire 

Expense       .... 
b.  Author's  Ownership  of  Plates 

and  of  Copyright 
Summary 

74 

79 
82 

viii 

Contents 

PAGE 

Contents 

PUBLISHING    ARRANGEMENTS     FOR     PRODUC- 
TIONS   FIRST    PRINTED    IN    PERIODICALS 

OR  CYCLOPyEDIAS         .... 

89 

III. — Obligations  under  the  Publishing 

Agreement 

98 

IV. — The  Literary  Agent  . 

124 

V. — Authors'  Associations 

155 

VI. — Advertising         .... 

162 

VII. — General  Considerations     . 

185 

VIII. — On  Securing  Copyright 

203 

I.  The  Law  of  Copyright  in  the 

United  States 

203 

II.  Analysis  of  the  Provisions  of 

the  Copyright  Law  of  189 1  . 

217 

General  Suggestions    . 

227 

PART  II. 

The  Making  of  Books  .... 

^35 

The  Preparation  of  the  Manuscript 

235 

Specimens  of  Type     . 

240 

Measuring  Type  . 

245 

Composition 

246 

Office  Proof 

247 

Author's  Proof    . 

247 

Corrections  of  the  Press 

255 

Electrotyping 

257 

Press  work  . 

257 

Making  Ready     . 

261 

Contents 


IX 


PAGE 

Bookbinding 26^ 

Library  Bindings  .        .        .271 

Illustrations 275 

Steel-Plate  Engraving  and  Print- 
ing        275 

Etchings  and  Photogravures  .  276 
Wood-Cuts  ....  277 
Photo-Engraving  .  .  .  279 
The  Heliotype,  or  Gelatine,  Process  281 


Contents 


PART  I. 

Ube  "Relations  ot  Hutbors  anD 

publisbers 

+ 

publisbina  Abetbo^s  anb  Brranaements 

+ 

®n  Securing  (Toppriabt 

By  G.  H.  p. 


Authors  and  Publishers 


fntroC)uctors 

IT  has  been  a  popular  assumption  that  be- 
tween authors  and  publishers  little  sym- 
pathy existed  ;  and  from  the  very  beginnings 
of  literature  there  has  been  a  more  or  less 
continuous  stream  of  complaints  from  authors 
who  have  felt  themselves  aggrieved,  on  one 
ground  or  another,  against  the  men  through 
whom  their  productions  have  been  brought 
before  the  public.  These  authors  have,  in 
not  a  few  cases,  convinced  themselves,  or  at 
least  have  endeavored  to  convince  others,  that 
if  they  failed  to  receive  from  the  public  what 
in  their  opinion  was  an  adequate  return  for 
their  productions,  such  failure  was  charge- 
able not  to  any  want  of  substantial  merit  in 
their  work,  but  to  the  lack  of  effective  busi- 
ness service  on  the  part  of  the  publishers,  or 
to  the  tendency  of  the  latter  to  absorb  for 
themselves  an  undue  proportion  of  the  re- 
ceipts. 


"Cbe  Bine 

of 
publi0bers 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


<5r{evances 
of  Butbor* 


The  Story  of  Campbell,  at  a  literary  dinner, 
proposing  the  health  of  Napoleon,  because  he 
once  shot  a  publisher,'  has  often  been  quoted 
as  a  fair  expression  of  the  feelings  of  literary 
workers,  and  if  there  is  any  truth  in  the  pict- 
ure which  represents  the  publisher  as  a  sort 
of  ogre,  whose  den  is  strewn  with  the  bones 
of  authors,  and  who  quaffs  his  wine  out  of 
their  skulls,  this  assumption  is  certainly  natu- 
ral enough,  as  between  the  eater  and  the 
eaten  there  can  be  little  love  lost.  It  must  be 
admitted  that  the  reminiscences  of  authors  do 
contain  not  a  few  instances  which  serve  to 
justify  this  vulgar  impression  as  to  the  pirati- 
cal and  profit-absorbing  tendencies  of  publish- 
ers. The  complaints  begin  as  early  as  the 
time  of  Martial,  who  was  a  most  persistent 
grumbler.  He  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  hav- 
ing not  less  than  four  publishers  at  one  time, 
and  took  occasion  to  include  invectives  against 
them  all  in  satires  or  epigrams  which  the  pub- 
lishers obligingly  continued  to  publish  for  him. 
Horace,  too,  complained  that  his  publishers, 
the  Sosii,  took  to  themselves  the  gold  pro- 
duced by  his  writings,  leaving  for  "the  au- 
thor's reward  only  fame  in  distant  lands  and 
with   posterity,"  and  even  Cicero  was  not 


'Johann  Philipp  Palm,  of  Nuremberg,  shot  in  1806  for 
publishing  a  pamphlet  against  the  rule  of  the  French  in 
Germany. 


Introductory 


always  ready  to  be  satisfied  with  the  reports 
of  his  valued  friend  and  prince  of  publishers, 
Atticus.  In  modern  literary  history,  the  names 
of  Milton,  Johnson,  Goldsmith,  Voltaire,  Bal- 
zac, Heine,  Byron,  the  elder  Disraeli,  and 
many  others  will  at  once  recur  to  mind  as 
having  left,  in  their  books  or  in  their  corre- 
spondence, more  or  less  acerbitous  criticisms 
of  their  publishers.  And,  to  bring  the  record 
down  to  our  own  days,  that  charming  writer 
and  true-hearted  humanitarian,  Walter  Besant, 
while  speaking  of  his  own  business  relations 
as  being  entirely  satisfactory,  has  been  taking 
up  the  cudgel  most  vigorously  on  behalf  of 
the  oppressed  class  of  literary  workers,  and 
has  shown  eloquently,  if  not  quite  convinc- 
ingly, that  in  the  publishing  business  as  now 
carried  on  there  is  no  risk,  and  that  the  sub- 
stantial profits  from  the  production  of  litera- 
ture are  in  great  part  absorbed  by  the  grasping 
publishers. 

Such  a  long  series  of  complaints  from  liter- 
ary workers  of  many  generations  constitutes 
on  its  face  rather  a  serious  indictment  against 
the  fair  dealing  of  publishers,  but  before 
deciding  that  a  good  case  has  been  made  out, 
one  or  two  considerations  are  entitled  to  at- 
tention. It  is  proper  to  remember,  in  the 
first  place,  that  nearly  all  the  narratives  of  the 
differences  that  have  arisen  between  authors 
and  publishers  have  come  to  us  in  ex  parte 


Orievancee 
of  Btttbots 


autbors  anO  ipubltsbers 


/Ditigatlnd 
donsideta* 
tions 


Statements.  In  the  exceptional  instances  in 
which  the  rejoinder  of  the  publisher  is  placed 
on  record,  a  very  different  aspect  is  usually 
given  to  the  case.  Secondly,  these  ex  parte 
opinions  come  to  us  from  members  of  a  genus 
irritabile,  whose  perceptions  of  the  facts  and 
equities  of  business  transactions  must  in  any 
case  be  taken  with  much  allowance,  and  of 
whom  some  at  least,  such  as  Voltaire,  Balzac, 
Heine,  and  others,  can  hardly  be  trusted  to  tell 
straight  stories  of  matters  in  which  their  own 
vanity  or  interest  was  involved.  It  is  further 
to  be  remembered  that,  while  the  transactions 
between  authors  and  publishers  would  now 
aggregate  a  very  considerable  number  (equal, 
of  course,  to  the  total  number  of  books  pub- 
lished), the  public  has  its  attention  called  to 
those  instances  only  in  which  the  authors 
have  imagined  themselves  to  have  ground  for 
complaint  or  texts  or  pretexts  for  satire.  In 
reading  about  these,  it  is  easy  to  forget  how 
very  inconsiderable  a  proportion  they  must 
bear  to  the  long  list  of  transactions  concerning 
which  the  authors  had  no  criticisms  to  make, 
whether  well  founded  or  otherwise.  The 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  cases  in  which  the 
authors  have,  through  the  successful  co-opera- 
tion of  their  publishers,  received  from  the 
public  a  satisfactory  return  for  their  labors, 
give  no  text  for  satirical  chapters  in  fiction,  no 
themes  for  fierce  onslaughts  in  reminiscences; 


fntrot)uctorp 


they  remain  naturally  and  of  necessity  uncom- 
memorated. 

And,  finally,  it  is  proper^  to  remember  that 
publishers  are  the  only  class  of  business  men 
whose  sins,  real  or  imaginary,  come  into 
literature.  Their  clients  have  the  ear  of  the 
public  and  sometimes  of  posterity,  and  are 
ready  to  assume  that  the  details  of  their 
personal  concerns  and  grievances  are  as  in- 
teresting to  their  readers  as  they  may  have 
been  important  to  themselves.  If  the  com- 
plaints against  lawyers,  bankers,  physicians, 
and  merchants,  on  the  part  of  their  respective 
clients,  were  in  like  manner  from  time  to  time 
put  into  literary  form,  the  misdeeds  of  pub- 
lishers would,  in  comparison,  sink  into  abso- 
lute insignificance.  It  would,  of  course,  be 
absurd  to  take  the  ground  that  there  have 
been  no  misdeeds  on  the  part  of  the  pub- 
lishers. I  simply  contend  that,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge  from  the  trustworthy  evidence,  the 
balance  of  any  "misdeed  account"  between 
themselves  and  their  authors  would  not  be 
against  the  publishers  ;  and,  more  specifically, 
that  the  authors  have  not,  as  a  whole,  paid  for 
the  service  of  getting  their  works  before  the 
public  a  larger  proportion  of  the  proceeds  of 
literature  than  was  needed  for  the  organiza- 
tion and  maintenance  of  the  skilled  machinery 
requisite. 

It  may  further  be  suggested  that,  as  litera- 


Ube  Case 
for  tbe 
S)efence 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


mercial 
Status  for 
Xiterature 


ture  has  developed  in  commercial  importance 
and  has  established  its  commercial  status,  the 
relations  of  authors  and  publishers  have  in 
various  respects  undergone  material  modifica- 
tions ;  so  that  the  occurrences  which  gave  rise 
to  certain  bitter  passages  in  authors'  reminis- 
cences of  a  century  back,  would  under  the 
conditions  of  to-day  be  impossible.  Grub 
Street  exists  no  more,  and  with  Grub  Street 
have  disappeared  the  patron  and  the  publisher 
of  old-time  literary  history  and  literary  hatred. 
The  last  appearance  in  literature  of  the  pub- 
lisher of  the  Grub  Street  period  occurs,  1  be- 
lieve, in  Pendennis,  where  Warrington  and 
young  Pen  are  described  as  going  down  to 
Fleet  Street  to  sell  Pen's  poem,  and  Pen  be- 
comes acquainted  with  the  manner  in  which 
the  rivals  of  the  publishing  fraternity,  Bungay 
and  Bacon,  bully  on  the  one  hand  their  ill- 
paid  hacks,  while  ever  ready  on  the  other  to 
toady  to  their  aristocratic  clients.  This  picture 
in  Pendennis,  by  the  way,  could  not  have 
been  given  as  a  personal  experience,  for  it  is 
on  record  that  Thackeray's  long-continued 
personal  relations  with  his  own  publishers 
(Smith  and  Elder)  were  both  pleasant  and 
profitable. 

It  is  certainly  the  case  to-day  that  authors 
who  can  produce  wares  possessing  commer- 
cial value,  find  little  difficulty  in  securing  for 
them  such  value.     Publishers  are  always  on 


ITntroDuctors 


the  lookout  for  real  material,  that  is,  for  mate- 
rial possessing  that  indescribable  quality  which 
secures  popular  appreciation,  and  they  can  be 
trusted,  on  the  ground  of  their  competition 
with  each  other,  if  for  no  other  reason,  to  pay 
for  such  material  its  market  value.  Indeed,  it 
happens  frequently  enough  from  season  to 
season  that,  in  the  ardor  of  competition  and 
with  some  undue  optimism  in  regard  to  the 
co-operation  of  the  book-buying  public,  pub- 
lishers are  tempted  to  pay  for  literary  produc- 
tions, in  the  shape  of  royalties,  of  guaranteed 
advances,  or  of  a  combination  of  both,  amounts 
considerably  in  excess  of  the  sums  which  can 
actually  be  secured  from  the  sales  of  the  books. 
The  amounts  of  such  deficiencies  must,  of 
course,  proportionately  reduce  the  capital 
available  for  future  literary  investments,  and 
must  also  lessen  the  optimism  of  the  publishers 
in  regard  to  similar  ventures  for  succeeding 
seasons. 

It  may  on  the  whole  safely  be  concluded 
that  it  is  chiefly  the  feebler  sort  of  authors 
who  make  any  attempt  to  keep  up  the 
"ogre"  theory  or  to  assume  that  publisher 
and  "bulldozer"  are  synonymous  terms. 
The  fledgling,  whose  first  venture  has  been 
entered  upon  with  large  expectations,  may  be 
ready  to  imagine  that  the  profits  on  which  he 
had  fondly  calculated,  and  which  he  has  failed 
to  realize,  have  been  absorbed  by  the  pub- 


Aaterfal 
vfitb  Ob&tm 

het  Value 
ZUwaies  in 

Demand 


autbors  ant)  pubUsbers 


C  be  Earns 
ings  of 

literary 
^roducera 

fisib  b? 

Deman&, 

Supply, 
and  Coma 

petition 


lishers.  The  author  who  has  experience  in 
literature  and  knowledge  of  business  is,  how- 
ever, as  a  rule,  ready  to  recognize  that,  while 
in  certain  undertakings  the  results  may  be  un- 
satisfactory or  may  bring  "  inequities  "  for  one 
party  or  the  other,  the  series  of  transactions 
between  authors  and  publishers  must,  as  an 
entirety,  be  regulated  by  the  same  inexorable 
laws  of  supply  and  demand,  and  under  the 
same  pressure  of  competition,  which  control 
all  buying  and  selling.  The  interests  of  au- 
thors and  publishers  are,  like  those  of  all  pro- 
ducers and  distributers,  practically  identical. 

A  noteworthy  instance  in  literary  history, 
the  account  of  which  as  first  given  to  the 
world  by  the  author  requires  to  be  completed 
and  corrected  by  the  fuller  record  from  the 
side  of  the  publisher,  is  that  of  the  relations  of 
Sir  Walter  Scott  with  Archibald  Constable. 
The  readers  of  Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott  are 
left  with  the  impression  that  the  financial  ruin 
of  the  great  author  was  principally  due  to  the 
mismanagement  of  his  business  interests  by 
the  publisher  Constable,  and  that  if  Scott 
could  have  secured  the  full  returns  from  his 
magnificent  literary  properties,  returns  which 
were,  in  fact,  squandered  in  Constable's  spec- 
ulations, his  last  years  would  not  have  been 
harassed  with  financial  cares  and  shadowed 
by  overwork.  When,  however,  we  have 
placed  before  us,   in  the  Memoirs  of  Con- 


fntroDuctorp 


stable,  the  full  statement  of  his  transactions 
with  Scott,  we  find  that,  during  nearly  the 
whole  course  of  his  relations,  the  author's  un- 
bounded optimism  had  led  him  to  make 
drafts  upon  profits  not  yet  earned  and  even  to 
call  for  large  advances  against  books  still  to  be 
written  ;  so  that  at  the  time  of  Constable's 
failure,  Scott  was  actually  in  debt  to  his 
publisher  ^10,000,  representing  moneys  ad- 
vanced upon  manuscripts  still  to  be  delivered 
and  for  the  most  part  not  even  written.  It 
seems  probable  that  this  sum  would  have 
been  adequate  to  save  the  publishing  firm 
from  failure,  a  failure  which  was  said  to  have 
been  the  chief  cause  of  Constable's  death  a 
year  later.  Scott's  magnificent  struggle 
through  the  later  years  of  his  life  to  redeem 
all  his  business  obligations,  including  not  only 
the  repayment  to  Constable's  creditors  of  the 
;^ 1 0,000,  but  also  the  settlement  of  the  still 
larger  sums  for  which  he  was  liable  as  partner 
in  the  printing  concern  of  his  old  school-friend 
Ballantyne,  may  well  have  been  intensified  by 
his  regrets  for  the  optimistic  heedlessness 
which  assuredly  had  had  not  a  little  to  do 
in  bringing  about  the  ruin  and  death  of  his 
publisher. 

The  recently  issued  Memoirs  of  John  Mur- 
ray (the  second)  give  not  a  few  instances  of 
serious  losses  incurred  by  the  publisher  from 
works  from  which,  according  to  the  belief  of 


Scott 

anb 

Constable 


Hutbora  an^  publisbers 


murras  the  authors,  he  had,  notwithstanding  liberal 
Hutbors  payments  for  the  copyrights,  secured  the  larger 
share  of  the  profits.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
in  these  volumes  the  various  little  side-lights 
which  are  thrown  upon  some  of  the  well- 
known  names  of  literature,  like  Moore,  the 
Disraelis,  Coleridge,  and  others,  who  imposed 
not  a  little  on  the  trusting  liberality  of  the 
great  publisher,  and  who  are  shown  to  have 
been  often  ready  to  take  money  without  any 
adequate  quid  pro  quo  or  even  without  any 
quid  pro  quo  at  all.  The  impression  is  also 
left  throughout  the  Memoirs  that  they  are,  as 
an  Hibernian  might  say,  "full  of  kindly  reti- 
cences," and  that  if  the  note-books  of  Murray 
had  been  transcribed  more  fully,  a  much  more 
considerable  balance  would  have  been  shown 
to  have  been  due  from  the  literary  workers  to 
their  business  agent  for  unprofitable  work, 
for  overpaid  work,  and  for  work  paid  for  but 
never  delivered. 

Washington  Irving  was  one  of  the  kindest  of 
men  as  also  one  of  the  most  modest  and  least 
self-asserting  of  authors.  It  is  evident,  how- 
ever, from  Murray's  Memoirs  that  Irving  was 
led  (apparently,  according  to  his  own  letters, 
"  by  the  counsel  of  over-zealous  friends  ")  to 
place  too  high  an  estimate  upon  the  com- 
mercial value  of  some  of  the  earlier  of  his 
writings,  and  that  Murray,  having  persuaded 
himself  to  accept  the  author's  estimate,  be- 


IntroDuctoris 


came  a  heavy  loser  through  the  publication  of 
some  of  Irving's  most  famous  books.  Irving's 
later  arrangement  with  his  American  pub- 
lisher, the  late  George  P.  Putnam,  under  which 
the  publisher,  in  place  of  "  speculating"  in  the 
volumes  by  paying  at  guesswork  advance 
prices  for  their  copyrights,  paid  a  royalty  on 
the  copies  actually  sold,  proved  much  more 
satisfactory  for  both  author  and  publisher,  and 
produced  for  the  author  and  his  heirs  a  sub- 
stantial income  extending  over  thirty  years. 

The  list  of  Memoirs  of  publishers  is  at  best 
but  inconsiderable.  In  these  Memoirs  it  can, 
I  think,  be  said  that  stress  has  uniformly  been 
laid  upon  the  pleasanter  phases  of  the  relations 
between  the  publishers  and  their  clients,  while 
the  writers  have,  as  a  rule,  not  thought  it  worth 
while  to  bring  into  literature  or  before  the 
public  the  publishers'  record  of  literary  con- 
tracts unfulfilled  or  of  publishers'  confidences 
imposed  upon,  a  record  which  might  assuredly 
have  been  made  a  long  one. 

It  is  possible  to  find  instances  of  authors 
who  are  conscious  that  the  judgments  of  their 
own  class  concerning  business  matters  are  not 
always  to  be  trusted  and  who  have  them- 
selves held  favorable  opinions  of  the  publish- 
ing fraternity.  Their  statements  can,  of 
course,  not  be  considered  as  disproving,  or 
even  as  disposing  of,  the  conclusions  of  other 
authors  whose  personal  experiences  have  been 


TQlbat 

publiebere 

Sa^of 

tbeit 

Butbors 


12 


Hutbors  an^  publisbers 


fJowelUi 

on 

publisber* 

anb 

Bntborc 


less  fortunate  or  whose  general  theories  con- 
cerning (publishing)  human  nature  are  more 
pessimistic.  A  man  who  has  a  grievance  or 
who  believes  in  the  existence  of  a  grievance  is 
not  answered  by  being  confronted  by  another 
man  (even  of  the  same  class)  who  has  none. 
It  may,  nevertheless,  be  worth  while,  as  one 
phase  of  the  general  subject  of  the  relations  of 
authors  and  publishers,  to  make  one  or  two 
citations  from  these  optimistic  writers. 

W.  D.  Howells,  in  a  paper  on  "The  Man, 
of  Letters  as  a  Man  of  Business,"  writes  as 
follows  : 

"There  is  always  something  disappointing 
in  the  accounts  of  publishers,  which  is,  I  fancy, 
because  authors  are  strangely  constituted,  ra- 
ther than  because  publishers  are  so. 

"  No,  we  literary  men  must  learn,  no  matter 
how  we  boast  ourselves  in  business,  that  the 
distress  we  feel  from  our  publishers'  accounts 
is  simply  idiopathic  ;  and  1  for  one  wish  to 
bear  my  witness  to  the  constant  good  faith 
and  uprightness  of  publishers.  It  is  supposed 
that  because  they  have  the  affair  altogether  in 
their  hands  they  are  apt  to  take  advantage  in 
it ;  but  this  does  not  follow,  and  as  a  matter 
of  fact  they  have  the  affair  no  more  in  their 
own  hands  than  any  other  business  man  with 
whom  you  have  an  open  account.  There  is 
nothing  to  prevent  you  from  looking  at  their 
books,  except  your  own  innermost  belief  and 


fntroOuctotn? 


13 


fear  that  their  books  are  correct,  and  that  your 
literature  has  brought  you  so  little  because  it 
has  sold  so  little. 

"The  author  is  not  to  blame  for  his  super- 
ficial delusion  to  the  contrary,  especially  if  he 
has  written  a  book  that  has  set  everyone  talk- 
ing, because  it  is  of  vital  interest.  It  may  be 
of  a  vital  interest,  without  being  at  all  the  kind 
of  book  people  want  to  buy  ;  it  may  be  the 
kind  of  book  that  they  are  content  to  know  at 
second  hand  ;  there  are  such  fatal  books  ;  but 
hearing  so  much  and  reading  so  much  about 
it,  the  author  cannot  help  hoping  that  it  has 
sold  much  more  than  the  publisher  says.  The 
publisher  is  undoubtedly  honest,  however,  and 
the  author  had  better  put  away  the  comfort- 
ing question  of  his  integrity. 

"The  English  writers  seem  largely  to  sus- 
pect their  publishers  (I  cannot  say  with  how 
much  reason,  for  my  English  publisher  is 
Scotch,  and  I  should  be  glad  to  be  so  true  a 
man  as  I  think  him)  ;  but  I  believe  that 
American  authors,  when  not  flown  with  flat- 
tering reviews,  as  largely  trust  theirs.  Of 
course  there  are  rogues  in  every  walk  of  life. 
I  will  not  say  that  I  ever  personally  met  them 
in  the  flowery  paths  of  literature,  but  I  have 
heard  of  other  people  meeting  them  there, 
just  as  I  have  heard  of  people  seeing  ghosts, 
and  1  have  to  believe  in  both  the  rogues  and 
the  ghosts,  without  the  witness  of  my  own 


Dowells 

on 
publi»ber0 

anb 
Butboce 


14 


autbors  an&  publfsbers 


f)owelte 

on 
Sargaine 

and 

"  pfraa 

cies  " 


senses.  I  suppose,  upon  such  grounds 
mainly,  that  there  are  wicked  publishers,  but 
in  the  case  of  our  books  that  do  not  sell,  I  am 
afraid  that  it  is  the  graceless  and  inapprecia- 
tive  public  which  is  far  more  to  blame  than 
the  wickedest  of  the  publishers.  It  is  true 
that  publishers  will  drive  a  hard  bargain  when 
they  can,  or  when  they  must,  but  there  is 
nothing  to  hinder  an  author  from  driving  a 
hard  bargain,  too,  when  he  can,  or  when  he 
must ;  and  it  is  to  be  said  of  the  publisher 
that  he  is  always  more  willing  to  abide  by 
the  bargain  when  it  is  made  than  the  author 
is,  perhaps  because  he  has  the  best  of  it.  But 
he  has  not  always  the  best  of  it ;  I  have 
known  publishers  too  generous  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  the  innocence  of  authors  ;  and  I 
fancy  that  if  publishers  had  to  do  with  any 
race  less  diffident  than  authors,  they  would 
have  won  a  repute  for  unselfishness  that  they 
do  not  now  enjoy.  It  is  certain  that  in  the 
long  period  when  we  flew  the  black  flag  of 
piracy  there  were  many  among  our  corsairs 
on  the  high  seas  of  literature  who  paid  a  fair 
price  for  the  stranger  craft  they  seized  ;  still 
oftener  they  removed  the  cargo,  and  released 
their  capture  with  several  weeks'  provision  ; 
and  although  there  was  undoubtedly  a  good 
deal  of  actual  throat-cutting  and  scuttling,  still 
I  feel  sure  that  there  was  less  of  it  than  there 
would  have  been  in  any  other  line  of  business 


fntro^uctors 


15 


released  to  the  unrestricted  plunder  of  the 
neighbor.  There  was  for  a  long  time  even  a 
comity  among  these  amiable  buccaneers,  who 
agreed  not  to  interfere  with  each  other,  and  so 
were  enabled  to  pay  over  to  their  victims 
some  portion  of  their  stolen  goods.  Of  all 
the  business  men,  publishers  are  probably  the 
most  faithful  and  honorable,  and  are  only  sur- 
passed in  virtue  when  men  of  letters  turn 
business  men." 

George  William  Curtis,  whose  relations  for 
nearly  half  a  century  with  publishers  were  in- 
timate enough  to  give  him  opportunities  for 
forming  an  opinion,  writes  as  follows  : 

"  How  often  has  the  Easy  Chair  assured  the 
incredulous  writer  of  poems,  or  essays,  or 
tales,  or  sketches  of  travel,  or  any  of  those 
papers  which  are  the  life  of  a  magazine,  or  of 
the  books  which  are  the  prosperity  of  pub- 
lishers, that  editors  are  not  malignant  Quilps 
who  delight  to  stick  forks  in  the  eyes  of  un- 
resisting wooden  figures,  and  that  it  is  not  of 
publishers  that  the  rhyme  is  written,  'Fee, 
faw,  fum,'  nor  is  the  word  Englishman  in  the 
rhyme  meant  to  describe  the  author  whose 
bones  the  grisly  ogre-publisher  yearns  to 
grind  to  make  his  bread.  Yet  the  tradition  is 
very  tenacious  that,  like  the  luxurious  princes 
who  fed  on  ortolans,  so  publishers  fatten  upon 
the  brains  of  authors. 

"Doubtless  many  a  young  poet  gnaws  his 


Cuctto 

on 

publiflbers 

an& 

Editors 


i6 


autbors  anO  publisbers 


Curtis 

on 
poets 

Mb 

pubUsbers 


heart  reflecting  that  publishers  conspire  not 
to  print  his  songs,  or  that  the  public  conspires 
not  to  read  them.  His  book  is  not  printed  or 
it  is  not  read.  He  is  therefore  the  victim  of  a 
bitter  wrong.  How  much  better  is  his  verse 
than  that  of  the  others  whose  songs  are  in  all 
hearts  and  upon  all  tongues  !  It  is  a  cruelly 
unjust  world,  thinks  the  poet,  because  the 
editor  and  the  publisher  will  not  own  his 
merit  ;  and  he  casts  a  green  eye  upon  the 
more  fortunate  who  can  cajole  or  corrupt  the 
publisher,  and  so  soar  to  fame.  Will  the  kind 
author  who  cannot  (and  quite  naturally)  re- 
ceive his  MS.  back  again  without  a  pang, 
reflect  that  one-half  of  the  books  published 
each  year  in  the  United  States  fail  to  return 
their  cost,  and  that  one-half  of  the  remainder 
bring  no  profit,  leaving  the  cost  of  supporting 
the  publishing  machinery  of  the  country  to 
be  borne  by  the  publishers'  share  of  the 
profits  of  one-fourth  of  the  books  issued  ? 

"  It  was  only  last  month  that  we  mentioned 
how  much  Washington  Irving  owed  to  his 
publisher,  the  late  George  P.  Putnam.  The 
correspondence  between  the  two  men  gives  a 
charming  glimpse  of  the  relation  that  may 
subsist  between  the  author  and  the  publisher, 
and  disposes  of  the  theory  that  they  are  natu- 
ral enemies.  What  Irving  says  of  his  pub- 
lisher many  another  author  could  say  also 
from  his  own  experience.     But  it  is  none  the 


1FntroC)uctocs 


17 


less  true  that  authors  (and  in  this  day  of 
magazines  their  name  is  legion)  do  often  feel 
that  they  are  greatly  wronged  by  publishers, 
and  that  the  business  of  publishing  books  and 
magazines  is  conducted  by  favoritism,  and 
envy,  hatred,  and  all  uncharitableness.  But 
the  business  of  publishing  and  editing  must, 
like  all  other  business,  to  be  profitable,  be 
conducted  upon  business  principles,  and  such 
principles  do  not  permit  the  publishing  of 
dull  books  merely  because  they  were  written 
by  personal  friends  of  the  publishers,  nor  the 
acceptance  of  articles  for  magazines  because 
they  are  the  work  of  the  editors'  cronies.  The 
fresh  genius,  the  new  writer,  who  shall  out- 
strip Dickens  and  charm  more  sweetly  than 
Longfellow,  is  the  hope  and  anticipation  of 
editor  and  publisher,  and  you,  young  sir  or 
madam,  with  your  modest  manuscript,  are  you 
not,  probably,  the  celestial  visitant  long  await- 
ed, and  now  newly  alighted  upon  the  planet  ? 
"  But  the  test  of  your  claim  upon  a  publisher 
is  the  probability  of  your  public  recognition. 
You  have  no  right  to  ask  him  to  pay  for  the 
printing  and  publication  of  a  book  which  no- 
body will  buy.  You  may  be  a  great  poet  or 
a  great  prophet  (even  Wiggins  himself),  but 
that  does  not  authorize  you  to  levy  upon  your 
neighbor's  purse.  If  your  neighbor,  being  a 
merchant,  decides  that  he  must  lose  his 
money  should  he  publish  your  book,  as  a 


Curtto 
on 

3BOOi!0 

and 
Xlutbors 


z8 


Hutbors  anO  publisbers 


t>ctMn» 

on 


good  merchant,  he  will  decline  to  publish  it. 
It  would  be  as  foolish  for  him  to  insist  that 
you  should  give  him  money  upon  the  pledge 
of  something  that  you  thought  to  be  value- 
less, as  for  you  to  make  a  similar  demand 
upon  him.  As  a  shrewd  merchant,  he  will 
publish  your  work  upon  the  best  terms  he 
can  make  with  you  if  he  sees  his  advantage 
in  it,  and  as  an  honorable  merchant  he  will 
strictly  observe  his  bargain  with  you." 

Another  writer  whose  experience  was,  on 
the  whole,  not  unsatisfactory,  Mr.  Frederick 
B.  Perkins,  uses  the  following  words  : 

"I  have  deailt  with  a  good  many  publish- 
ers, and  while  I  have  found  some  few  of 
them  arrogant,  discourteous,  oppressive,  and 
generally  abominable  in  both  personal  and 
business  intercourse,  I  desire  to  record  my 
testimony  that  as  a  class  they  are  courteous 
and  honorable  gentlemen  ;  fair  and  liberal  in 
views,  intentions,  and  actions,  and  pleasant 
and  intelligent  in  mind  and  intercourse.  For 
my  own  part,  after  having  examined  in  detail 
a  good  many  transactions  with  publishers  for 
other  people,  and  after  having  a  good  many 
dealings  with  them  for  myself,  I  should  be 
satisfied  that  what  my  publisher  told  me 
about  the  sale  of  my  book  was  true  ;  that  he 
had  done  his  best  to  sell  it,  and  that  what  he 
had  paid  me  (for  my  share  of  the  proceeds) 
was  right." 


1[ntro5uctors 


19 


In  an  article  on  "The  Publisher's  Vocation," 
the  text  for  which  was  the  cordially  apprecia- 
tive memoir  by  Thomas  Hughes  of  the  pub- 
lisher Daniel  Macmillan,  the  Rev.  Julius  H. 
Ward  says  : 

"The  reading  public  is  ready  enough  to 
acknowledge  its  obligations  to  authors,  and 
seldom  thinks  of  the  party  named  at  the  foot 
of  the  title-page,  through  whose  agency  a 
book  is  brought  out.  The  traditions  of  books 
give  every  advantage  to  the  author  and 
printer,  and  place  the  publisher  midway  be- 
tween heaven  and  earth,  where  he  is  likely  to 
suffer  abuse  from  everybody.  Yet  he  has  a 
relation  to  the  literary  public  the  importance 
of  which  can  hardly  be  exaggerated,  and 
without  which  literature  would  almost  cease 
to  prosper.  The  author  creates,  the  publisher 
simply  puts  his  wares  on  the  market ;  but 
between  the  publishing  of  books  that  deprave 
the  public  taste  and  those  that  elevate  it,  no 
one  stands  in  a  more  responsible  position  than 
the  man  who  puts  them  on  the  market.  The 
quarrels  of  authors  with  publishers  would 
make  a  long  story,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  encouragement  which  publishers  have 
given  to  authors  has  often  been  the  making 
of  them,  and  has  given  direction  to  the  devel- 
opment of  a  generation  of  readers. 

"Their  business  has  its  mechanical  and 
secular  side,  but  it  also  has  its  moral  and  edu- 


5uIfU0  13. 

imarb 
on  tbe 

Pttba 

Ii0ber'0 
Vocation 


20 


Hutbors  ant)  ipublisbers 


5nliu0 1). 
TtOlarb 
on  tbe 
pub« 
Ii0ber'0 

Vocation 


cational  side.  They  can  much  more  easily 
degrade  than  they  can  elevate  the  public 
taste,  and  where  a  publisher  has  chosen  to 
bring  out  only  good  books,  and  has  put  con- 
science into  his  business,  he  has  always  risen 
through  his  work  to  a  position  of  command- 
ing influence.  One  does  not  hesitate  a  mo- 
ment to  buy  the  books  issued  by  the  leading 
English  and  American  Houses  on  the  score  of 
their  morality,  and  hardly  on  the  score  of 
literary  merit.  The  reputation  of  the  best 
Houses  is  so  jealously  guarded  in  this  respect, 
that  no  inducements  can  prevail  on  them  to 
bring  out  a  work  of  questionable  character, 
especially  with  an  eye  to  the  making  of  money 
out  of  it,  while  their  pecuniary  interests  are 
sufficiently  at  stake  to  prevent  the  publication 
of  works  that  are  only  fit  for  the  waste-basket. 
And  the  securing  of  the  reputation  of  a  high- 
toned  publisher  has  been  the  aim,  as  it  is  also 
the  present  aim,  of  nearly  all  the  publishers 
who  have  been  connected  with  our  literature. 
"One  recalls  the  names  of  several  Ameri- 
cans who  have  stood  in  such  relations  to 
authors  and  readers  that  their  imprint  carried 
immense  influence,  making  them  not  only 
benefactors  to  authors,  but  the  purveyors  of 
the  best  books  to  those  for  whom  they  were 
written.  Eminent  among  these  was  George 
P.  Putnam,  who  brought  a  sensitive  con- 
science   and    excellent  literary  taste  to  the 


fntroDuctori? 


business  of  a  bookseller  and  publisher,  and  is 
always  to  be  named  as  one  of  the  best  friends 
American  authors  have  ever  had. 

"He  published  books  on  their  merits,  and 
drew  around  him  the  men  who  had  some- 
thing to  say  to  the  public ;  and  the  magazine 
which  he  started  in  1853  is  still  remembered, 
although  long  ago  discontinued,  for  the  noble 
character  and  excellent  quality  of  the  contents. 
He  filled  out  the  idea  of  what  the  public 
needed,  and  had  the  largeness  of  conception 
requisite  to  the  undertaking  and  the  proper 
business  capacity  to  make  it  a  success.  No 
man  knew  better  how  to  help  authors  for- 
ward, or  how  to  furnish  the  public  with  read- 
able books  of  the  best  character. 

"The  late  James  Brown,  who  lifted  the 
House  of  Little,  Brown,  &  Co.  into  its  present 
high  rank,  was  the  first  American  to  import 
the  best  English  books  at  reasonable  prices. 
Greater  as  a  bookseller  than  as  a  publisher,  he 
was  eminent  in  both  directions,  and  from  1837 
to  1855,  he  did  more  than  any  other  man  to 
bring  the  best  thought  of  Europe  into  contact 
with  the  best  minds  of  America.  He  had  the 
power  to  ascertain  the  contents  of  a  book  by 
glancing  through  its  uncut  pages,  which  is 
said  to  have  been  the  secret  of  the  poet  Per- 
cival's  wonderful  acquisitions  while  leaning 
over  the  counters  of  George  Howe's  book- 
store in  New  Haven  fifty  years  ago.     His 


5uUu6  13. 

TRUart 

on  tbe 

pub* 

lisber's 

Vocation 


22 


Hutbors  an&  pubUsbers 


SaUue  1). 
TlOlart) 
on  tbe 
pub* 
IUber'0 

Vocation 


word  about  a  book  had  the  weight  of  the 
best  critical  judgment.  He  developed  a  taste 
for  the  best  editions,  and  was  the  publisher 
of  Bancroft's,  Palfrey's,  Everett's,  and  Win- 
throp's  works,  in  a  style  that  was  an  honor 
to  our  literature. 

"The  old  House  of  Ticknor  &  Fields  must 
be  mentioned  in  this  connection.  Mr.  Fields 
rendered  excellent  and  peculiar  services  to  our 
literature,  but  the  character  of  the  House  had 
been  established  before  he  became  a  member 
of  it.  His  persistency  and  literary  enthusiasm 
had  an  influence  in  the  right  direction,  but 
the  cool,  clear  judgment  of  Mr.  Ticknor  gave 
the  House  its  proper  weight  and  character. 
There  are  many  instances  of  the  highest  type 
of  the  publisher  in  Boston  to-day,  where  busi- 
ness capacity  is  allied  with  literary  instinct, 
and  where  the  publisher  is  forgotten  in  the 
scholar  and  the  gentleman,  the  business  by 
which  one  lives  being  almost  forgotten  in  the 
enthusiasm  for  good  books  and  in  the  desire 
to  keep  our  literature  at  its  highest  and  best. 
This  ideal  is  so  steadily  aimed  at,  and  in  many 
instances  so  largely  realized,  that  it  may  be 
said  that  our  best  publishers  have  lifted  their 
business  up  to  the  dignity  of  the  great  pro- 
fessions. 

"  But,  perhaps,  no  better  type  of  the  book- 
seller and  publisher  has  ever  been  known  than 
is  disclosed  in  Thomas  Hughes's  Memoirs  of 


Introductory 


23 


Daniel  Macmillan.  The  House  of  Macmillan 
&  Co.  now  ranks  with  that  of  John  Murray 
and  the  Longmans  in  point  of  honor  and  in- 
fluence in  English  literature,  and  here  the  story 
of  the  way  in  which  it  was  founded  is  told 
by  an  accomplished  and  sympathetic  writer. 
'  No  man,'  says  Mr.  Hughes,  *  who  ever  sold 
books  for  a  livelihood  was  more  conscious  of 
a  vocation;  more  impressed  with  the  dignity 
of  his  craft  and  of  its  value  to  humanity ;  more 
anxious  that  it  should  suffer  no  shame  or 
diminution  through  him.'  Bound  out  as  a 
book-binder's  apprentice  in  his  eleventh  year; 
carrying  the  burdens  of  a  large  business  as 
if  he  were  a  man,  before  he  was  well  out  of 
his  boyhood  ;  thirsting,  like  a  hundred  other 
Scotch  peasant  boys  of  his  time,  for  the  free- 
dom of  a  large  career;  improving  every  leisure 
moment  for  the  education  which  his  poverty 
denied'  him  at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  he 
was  in  Cambridge,  in  a  university  book-store, 
in  his  twentieth  year,  and  at  the  end  of  a 
twelvemonth's  service  there  was  not  a  book 
on  the  shelves  of  the  shop  with  whose  con- 
tents he  was  not  familiar. 

"Ten  years  later,  through  the  generosity 
of  Archdeacon  Hare,  whose  friendship  had 
been  won  because  the  young  Scotchman  had 
been  built  up  into  a  higher  type  of  manhood 
by  studying  his  Guesses  at  Truth,  and  whose 
loan  of  ;!^500  enabled  the  Macmillan  brothers, 


"bugbes 

on 

S>an{el 

Aacmillan 


24 


autbors  ant)  publisbers 


f>ugbe8 

on 

S>aniel 

/Bacmillan 


Daniel  and  Alexander,  to  start  in  business  on 
their  own  account  as  university  booksellers 
and  publishers,  he  returned  to  Cambridge  to 
develop  a  career  as  noble  as  it  was  honest  and 
sincere.  Mr.  F.  J.  Furnivall,  in  the  Academy 
for  August  1 2th,  confesses  himself  among  the 
young  men  who  owed  to  him  '  the  best  of 
such  teachings  as  they  got  from  the  Univers- 
ity.' 'The  man  who  taught  us  to  think,  to 
read  books  that  made  us  think,  and  opened 
our  minds,'  he  says,  'was  Daniel  Macmillan, 
along  with  our  college  friends.  As  long  as 
his  health  lasted,  and  he  was  able  to  stir  up 
undergraduates  and  graduates  by  his  talk,  he 
was  a  real  power  in  the  University.' 

"  Mr.  Hughes,  in  the  memoir,  the  reading 
of  which  is  so  thrilling  that  one's  heart  leaps 
into  his  throat  half  a  hundred  times  while 
going  through  it,  brings  out  his  university 
work,  carried  on  while  looking  death  in  the 
face  almost  weekly  for  the  last  twelve  years 
of  his  life,  in  even  stronger  light  than  Mr. 
Furnivall  does ;  but  this  work  was  really  only 
incidental  to  his  great  purposes,  the  overflow 
of  the  mind  and  heart  of  a  deeply  religious 
and  earnest  man  who  knew  the  power  of 
good  books  to  enlarge  men's  souls.  .  .  . 
There  was  so  much  of  live  substance  in  this 
man,  and  he  had  put  his  heart  and  soul  so 
truly  into  the  great  publishing  House  that  he 
founded,  that  he  could  not  be  forgotten,  and 


*< 
/*^. 


►•^t^ 


^  ^7*. 


•ffntro^ttctors 


25 


the  new  generation  of  to-day  has  demanded 
that  the  story  of  the  way  in  which  he  illus- 
trated the  possibilities  of  the  publisher's  voca- 
tion should  be  known  to  the  world." 

In  this  connection  the  editor  of  the  present 
volume,  at  the  risk  of  being  thought  personal, 
thinks  it  may  be  considered  of  interest  to 
present  a  letter  from  Washington  Irving  to 
the  founder  of  the  firm  whose  imprint  this 
volume  bears. 


The  writer  once  heard  of  a  publisher  who, 
ambitious  to  cast  a  poetic  halo  over  his  calling, 
tried  his  hand  at  a  paraphrase  of  the  well- 
known  lines  on  Franklin, 
"  Eripuit  coelo  fulmen  sceptrumque  tyrannis, " 
and  suggested,  as  expressing  what  he  would 
like  to  have  accomplished  : 
" Eripuit  poetis  animam  aurumque  populo." 
"  From  the  authors  he  seized  brains  and  from 
the  public  gold." 

Certainly  a  most  desirable  result,  and  the 
picture  of  our  publisher,  in  the  guise  of  a 
prestidigitator,  exercising  an  infallible  King- 
Midas  touch  on  the  material  submitted  to  him, 
is  a  very  fascinating  one.  But  brains,  the  pro- 
ceeds of  which  can  be  converted  into  a  satis- 
factory cash  equivalent,  are  scarcer  and  more 
difficult  to  secure  than  the  youthful  writer  or 
the  average  critic  is  apt  to  imagine,  and  a  large 


Ube 

PVbm 

liebtv'B 
Calling 


26 


Hutbors  ant)  pubUsbers 


Ube 
Commera 

cfal 

"Value" 

ot  XCteraine 

Aaterial 


majority  of  the  productions  submitted  to  pub- 
lishers as  the  offspring  of  brains,  bear  very 
slight  traces  of  their  supposed  origin,  and  are  no 
more  convertible  into  current  coin  of  the  realm 
than  are  the  notes  of  the  late  Confederacy, 

It  is  also  to  be  remembered  that  literary 
material  may  possess  literary  value,  but  may, 
for  one  cause  or  another,  lack  commercial 
"availability."  The  question  that  the  pub- 
lisher must  consider  in  deciding  upon  it  is 
whether  enough  readers  and  buyers  can  be 
secured  for  it  to  render  the  publication  re- 
munerative to  himself  and  the  author;  and 
the  decision  must  often  be  unfavorable,  even 
for  work  of  no  little  intrinsic  merit.  It  may 
be  a  scientific  treatise,  whose  teachings, 
while  important  to  science,  would  be  directly 
serviceable  to  but  a  few  hundred  readers  ;  or 
an  historical  study,  on  a  subject  recently  treated 
by  some  other  writer  whose  name  possessed 
greater  authority,  and  whose  book  had  there- 
fore supplied  the  demand  ;  or  essays,  possess- 
ing originality  but  lacking  literary  form  and 
therefore  readability  ;  or  a  volume  of  travel, 
on  some  part  of  the  world  already  so  fully 
"bewritten"  as  to  render  further  description 
unnecessary  and  therefore  unprofitable  ;  or  a 
volume  of  fiction,  pleasantly  and  gracefully 
written,  but  not  characterized  by  any  distinct- 
ive power  or  originality,  and  likely,  therefore, 
to  fail  to  secure  any  marked  attention  from 


Untro&uctors 


27 


the  critics  or  any  considerable  sale  with  the 
public. 

The  difficulty  in  the  way  of  a  favorable 
decision  may  also  sometimes  be  due  to  some 
particular  circumstances  in  the  state  of  the 
"market"  for  literary  wares. 

It  may,  in  any  case,  safely  be  concluded 
that  the  judgment  of  the  publisher,  who  comes 
into  direct  contact  with  the  reading  public, 
and  who  has  the  advantage  as  well  of  his 
own  personal  experience  as  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  history  of  publishing  ventures  generally, 
possesses  many  more  chances  of  being  correct 
as  to  the  probable  availability  and  popularity 
of  literary  material,  than  that  of  the  author, 
who  usually  lacks  any  such  knowledge,  and 
whose  calculations  must  be  more  or  less 
colored  by  the  paternal  relation  he  bears  to 
the  article  whose  value  is  in  question. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  a  publisher  avoids, 
as  a  rule,  passing  judgment  upon  the  general 
value  of  a  manuscript,  and  restricts  himself 
to  deciding  whether  or  not  it  is  available  for 
his  own  list;  and  it  happens  not  infrequently 
that  undertakings  concerning  which  one  firm 
is  doubtful  are  promptly  entered  upon  and 
successfully  carried  out  by  another.  This  dif- 
ference of  opinion  is,  of  course,  sometimes 
due  to  a  difference  in  clearness  of  perception  ; 
but  it  is  more  frequently  the  case  that  the 
manuscript  has,  in  the  first  instance,  been 


Ube 
Commer> 

cial 
"IPalue" 
of  literary 
Aaterial 


28 


Hutbors  auD  publisbers 


Zbe 

Searcb 

for  tbe 

pnblUixc 


offered  to  a  House  with  whose  particular  line 
of  publications,  or  with  whose  position  on 
the  questions  discussed  in  it,  it  did  not  happen 
to  be  in  accord. 

It  is  important,  therefore,  for  the  author, 
before  submitting  his  manuscript,  to  inform 
himself,  as  far  as  may  be  in  his  power,  as  to 
which  publisher's  catalogue  it  is  most  likely 
to  be  in  harmony  with.  He  may,  through 
this  precaution,  often  save  time  for  both  him- 
self and  the  publishing  offices. 

As,  however,  it  may  often  be  difficult,  at 
least  for  a  beginner  in  literature,  to  obtain 
trustworthy  information  as  to  the  idiosyncra- 
sies of  the  diflerent  publishing  Houses,  he 
should  guard  himself  from  being  unduly  dis- 
couraged at  receiving  one  or  more  declinations 
of  his  wares,  and  should  continue  to  submit 
his  manuscript  to  one  House  after  another 
until  it  has  been  the  rounds  of  all  the  firms 
whose  imprints  are  worth  securing.  If  the 
work  is  declined  by  all,  the  writer  may  be 
pretty  well  satisfied  that,  whatever  its  merits, 
it  is  not  of  such  a  character  as  to  secure  a 
popular  appreciation  or  a  remunerative  sale. 

The  confident  author,  possessing  a  mens 
conscia  inflati  divini,  may  still  console  him- 
self with  the  reflection  that  perhaps  all  the 
publishers  are  mistaken,  and  that  if  his  vol- 
ume could  only  overleap  the  barriers  which 
publishing  stupidity  has  placed  between  it 


•ffntroDuctor^ 


29 


and  the  public,  the  latter  would  eagerly  accord 
the  appreciation  and  the  fame.  The  history 
of  literature  does  present  instances  of  obtuse 
publishers  refusing  to  recognize  literary  gems 
which  later  have  brought  fame  to  their  authors 
and  profits  and  prestige  to  more  clear-sighted 
and  enterprising  firms.  But  the  number  of 
such  instances  is,  for  all  the  centuries  of 
publishing,  at  best  but  inconsiderable  ;  while 
literary  history  fails  to  give  record  of  the  dis- 
couragingly  long  yearly  list  of  undertakings  in 
which  the  publisher's  enterprise,  influenced 
possibly  by  the  sanguineness  of  the'  author, 
has  outstripped  his  clear-sightedness  and  judg- 
ment, and  has  resulted  in  loss  instead  of  profit. 

It  has,  in  fact,  been  estimated  that  one  half 
of  the  books  published  each  year  in  the  United 
States  have  failed  to  return  their  cost,  and  that 
one  half  of  the  remainder  have  brought  no 
profit,  thus  leaving  the  cost  of  supporting  the 
publishing  machinery  of  the  country  to  be 
borne  by  the  publishers'  share  of  the  profits 
of  one  fourth  of  the  books  issued.  If  these 
figures  can  be  trusted,  and  while  it  is  impos- 
sible to  verify  them  with  precision,  they  are 
probably  not  far  from  the  truth,  it  is  not  want 
of  enterprise  or  lack  of  faith  with  which 
American  publishers  should  be  charged. 

In  submitting  a  manuscript,  there  is,  as  a 
rule,  nothing  to  be  gained  by  the  author  in 
securing  a  personal  interview  with  the  pub- 


Ube 

®btu0ea 

neee  of 

pubiisbere 


30 


Hutbors  ant>  publisbers 


trbe  Value 

of  tbe 
personal 
Interview 


lisher.  Of  course,  there  may  be  many  con- 
siderations which  will  render  it  desirable  for 
authors  and  publishers  at  some  time  to  come 
together,  but  it  is  very  seldom  that  anything 
is  gained  by  such  personal  word  at  the  time 
the  manuscript  is  first  handed  in.  A  literary 
work,  in  the  few  minutes'  time  that  it  is 
proper  to  allow  for  a  call  in  a  business  office, 
cannot  receive  such  attention  as  authors  usu- 
ally expect  for  their  productions.  It  is  not, 
like  a  Chatham  Street  hat,  to  be  cared  for 
"  while  the  owner  waits." 

There  is  also  no  advantage  in  taking  time 
to  point  out  to  a  publisher  the  particular 
merits  or  peculiarities  of  a  work.  If  the  pur- 
pose and  value  of  the  material  cannot  be  made 
clear  to  the  examiner  of  the  manuscript  with- 
out a  personal  explanation  from  the  author,  it 
is  not  likely  that  the  volume  is  in  shape  to  be 
of  much  service  to  the  general  public.  It  is 
probable  that  there  are  to-day  but  few  writers 
so  unsophisticated  as  to  undertake  themselves 
to  read  their  manuscripts  to  the  publishers  to 
whom  they  submit  them.  Any  such  would, 
of  course,  promptly  be  told  that  there  is  no 
time  in  a  business  office  for  anything  of  this 
kind,  and  it  might  also  be  explained  to  him 
that,  irrespective  of  the  question  of  time,  a 
publisher's  mind  is  not  apt  to  be,  during  busi- 
ness hours,  in  a  sufficiently  free  and  receptive 
state  to  render  him  appreciative  of  the  beau- 


1Fntro&uctori? 


31 


ties  of  literature;  and  such  consideration  as 
he  might  be  induced  to  give,  would,  under 
the  circumstances,  be  most  likely  to  prove 
unfavorable. 

In  fact,  as  is  now  very  generally  under- 
stood, with  all  the  larger  publishing  Houses 
the  business  of  making  a  first  examination 
and  analysis  of  the  manuscripts  submitted  is 
in  the  hands  of  assistants,  who  are  called 
"readers." 

The  production  of  manuscripts  for  publica- 
tion is  being  actively  carried  on  by  thousands 
of  literary  aspirants  throughout  the  country. 
From  Maine  to  Texas,  from  Florida  to  Alaska, 
the  cacoethes  scribendi,  accompanied  by  a 
greater  or  smaller  amount  of  inspiration,  is 
keeping  in  motion  thousands  of  earnest  pens ; 
while  the  manuscripts  which  are  the  results 
of  all  this  hopeful  scribbling  are,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  small  proportion  finding  their  way 
to  Chicago  and  one  or  two  other  of  the  more 
recently  developed  literary  centres,  poured  into 
the  publishing  offices  of  three  cities :  New  York, 
Boston,  and  Philadelphia.  These  cities  thus 
form  the  literary  sifters  and  the  literary  clear- 
ing-houses of  the  continent.  As  a  result  of 
such  concentration,  the  leading  publishing 
Houses  receive  each  (exclusive  of  magazine 
material)  from  one  hundred  to  several  hundred 
manuscripts  per  month.  The  task  of  taking 
care  of  this  mass  of  material  is  quite  a  consid- 


xrbe 
pro^uct^on 
of  "  X«« 
eratuce  " 


32 


Butbors  anO  publisbers 


Ube 

Ssaminaa 

tion  of 

Aanua 

«ctipt0 


erable  one,  and  involves  no  little  outlay  of  time 
and  money.  The  cash  value  of  the  manu- 
scripts, if  calculated  on  the  basis  of  the  authors' 
estimates,  would  be  enormous,  and  even  with 
such  considerable  discount  as  it  might  be 
proper  to  make  on  these  estimates,  is  still 
quite  large,  and  the  labor  of  keeping  the 
records  of  the  manuscripts,  of  the  correspond- 
ence connected  with  them,  and  of  safely  re- 
turning to  the  owners  the  greater  portion  of 
them,  calls  for  the  services  of  a  large  number 
of  "manuscript  clerks." 

The  manuscripts,  when  recorded  and  num- 
bered, are  sent  out  to  the  examiners,  being 
usually  divided  among  these  according  to 
their  subjects,  fiction  going  to  one  class  of 
readers,  science  to  another,  theology  to  a 
third,  etc.  The  written  reports  which  come 
back  from  the  examiners  refer  to  the  manu- 
scripts by  their  numbers,  and  it  may  often  be 
the  case  that  the  examiners  have  no  knowledge 
of  the  names  of  the  authors  whose  material 
they  are  reporting  upon.  The  publishers  then 
give  to  the  returned  manuscripts  such  further 
consideration  as  is  warranted  by  the  reports 
of  their  examiners  ;  but  while  a  favorable 
report  secures  for  a  work  careful  attention,  a 
decidedly  unfavorable  one  is  usually  accepted 
as  final.  It  will  be  seen  that  under  such  a 
system  a  work  has  every  opportunity  of  secur- 
ing the  thorough  examination  and  the  impar- 


•ffntroDuctorp 


33 


tial  consideration  upon  which  writers  (not 
unnaturally)  lay  so  much  stress,  and  that  in 
connection  with  such  an  examination  of 
manuscripts  identified  by  their  numbers, 
much  less  weight  can  be  given  to  personal 
introductions  and  recommendations  accom- 
panying manuscripts  than  writers  are  apt  to 
imagine.  As  we  have  before  said,  publishers 
are  always  on  the  lookout  for  good  material, 
and  for  the  first  efforts  of  the  young  writers 
who  are  to  become  the  leading  authors  of  the 
next  decade  ;  and  each  day's  supply  of  manu- 
scripts is  carefully,  if  not  hopefully,  scanned 
in  the  chance  that  it  may  include  a  Jane 
Eyre  or  an  Uncle  Tom. 

With  a  few  further  words  of  suggestion  to 
those  submitting  for  the  press  their  first  pro- 
ductions, we  will  bring  this  introductory 
chapter  to  a  close.  Do  not,  in  a  publisher's 
ofllce,  quote  the  opinions  of  friends  as  "  having 
induced  you  to  offer  your  work  for  publica- 
tion," or  speak  of  your  friends  as  being  them- 
selves "ready  to  purchase  a  first  edition." 
Publishers  have  learned  to  attach  little  weight 
to  "opinions  of  friends"  as  to  the  literary 
merit  of  a  work,  and  such  merit  must,  in  any 
case,  if  it  exist,  be  open  to  demonstration  ; 
and  sad  experience  has  further  taught  pub- 
lishers to  place  still  less  faith  on  the  general 
promises  made  by  "  friends  "  before  the  pub- 
lication of  a  book,  to  purchase  a  large  number 


B\xqqceU 

ions  to 

3Bedinner0 

in 
Xriteratnre 


34 


Hutbors  an&  publtsbers 


SUddCSta 

ione  to 
Seginners 

in 
Xiterature 


of  copies  when  it  is  ready.  If  an  author  is 
fortunate  enough  to  be  in  a  position  to  further 
the  sales  of  his  book,  it  is  wiser  for  him  to 
refrain  from  arousing  the  publisher's  expecta- 
tions (or  his  scepticism)  at  the  outset,  and  to 
let  such  co-operation  come  as  a  pleasant  sur- 
prise afterward.  It  is  also  not  likely  to  be  of 
service,  to  lay  stress  upon  the  fact  that  your 
"acquaintance  with  the  press"  will  ensure 
for  your  volume  favorable  consideration  at 
the  hands  of  the  literary  critics,  as  publishers 
are  fully  aware  that  the  reviews  in  journals 
whose  opinions  carry  weight  and  effect  sales, 
cannot  easily  be  influenced  by  personal  rela- 
tions or  by  suggestions  from  authors. 

Before  submitting  a  manuscript  at  all,  it 
may  often  be  worth  while  to  take  the  opinion 
of  judicious  friends  as  to  whether  it  is  in  satis- 
factory shape  for  publication.  The  grist-mill 
of  the  publishing  offices  is  called  upon  to  deal 
with  hundreds  of  manuscripts,  the  writers  of 
which  have  never  mastered  the  first  principles 
of  English  grammar  and  could  not  stand  an 
examination  in  Webster's  Primary  Speller. 
Hundreds  more,  which  are  smoothly  written 
and  which  show  a  due  regard  for  the  English 
language,  are  absolutely  devoid  of  ideas.  The 
writers  had  nothing  to  say  to  the  public,  and 
yet  expect  fame  and  profit  for  saying  it. 
Much  loss  of  time,  and  much  bitterness  of 
hope  deferred    and    of   expectations    disap- 


Hutbors  ant)  pubUsbcrs 


35 


pointed,  could  be  spared  to  these  writers  if 
they  had,  in  the  first  place,  taken  counsel  of 
some  of  those  about  them  who  were  in  a 
position  to  judge  whether  the  material  had 
any  value  and  was  in  decent  form.  In  coun- 
try towns,  the  librarian  of  the  town  library, 
the  bookseller,  the  minister  of  the  parish,  or 
some  other  neighbor  of  education  or  experi- 
ence would,  in  most  cases,  be  willing  and 
able  to  give  wise  counsel,  and  counsel  which, 
if  followed,  would  save  much  waste  of  effort. 
Finally,  if  you  are  planning  to  become  an 
author,  it  will  be  wise  to  remember  the  advice 
of  Punch  to  the  young  man  contemplating 
marriage  :  "Don't."  That  is,  refrain,  if  you 
can  avoid  it.  Refrain,  unless  the  pressure  is 
so  strong  upon  you  that  you  can  recognize 
yourself  as  really  being  "called,"  and  that 
literature  is  to  be  the  "  calling."  Books  must 
be  written  out  of  that  which  is  in  you,  not 
made  up  ;  and  if  without  such  calling  a  man 
sits  down,  and  says  to  himself:  "Go  to,  let 
us  make  a  book,"  so  surely  will  the  end  of 
that  book  and  of  that  man  (or  woman)  be 
disappointment  and  emptiness. 


ions  to 
^Beginners 

in 
literature 


36 


ef^sr  \js 


'ocjgjaB'    ^^5^ 


Ipublisbing  arrangements 


IRelatione 

between 

Butbors 

anb  pub* 

Itobers-not 

aiBattecot 

public 

Concern 


UNDER  this  general  heading  can  be  con- 
sidered the  methods  which  are  at  present 
in  use  in  the  division  of  the  proceeds  of  htera- 
ture,  and  the  principles  by  which  these  methods 
have  been  arrived  at.  It  is  my  understanding 
that  the  statements  made  and  the  suggestions 
submitted  are  addressed  only  to  literary  work- 
ers. I  should  take  the  ground  that  the  provis- 
ions of  agreements  between  authors  and  their 
business  agents  is  a  matter  with  which  the 
general  public  has  no  proper  concern,  and  in 
fact  that,  without  full  information  concerning 
the  cost  of  manufacture,  the  expenses  of  dis- 
tribution, and  other  technical  business  details 
which  it  would  be  hardly  practicable  to  pre- 
sent, no  proper  understanding  can  be  arrived 
at  by  the  general  public  concerning  the  accu- 
racy of  any  statement  of  the  results  secured 
from  the  sales  of  books,  or  as  to  the  equity  of 
any  method  of  division  of  these  results. 

I  can  but  think  that  not  a  little  injustice  has 
been  done  to  authors  as  a  class  by  the  readi- 


publisbfng  Brranaements 


37 


ness  with  which  some  few  among  them  have 
paraded  their  grievances  before  a  community 
that  was  in  no  position  to  arrive  at  a  correct 
judgment  upon  issues  which  could  at  the  best 
be  but  partially  presented,  and  for  the  adjust- 
ment of  which,  even  if  they  were  fairly  un- 
derstood, the  public  possessed  no  authority. 
Why  should  Canon  Farrar,  for  instance,  ap- 
peal to  the  public  for  sympathy  because  his 
publishers  had  made  more  money  than  him- 
self from  the  publication  of  a  book  that  had 
been  written  "to  order"  under  their  suggest- 
ion and  contract,  and  for  which,  according  to 
the  statement  of  the  Canon  himself,  he  had 
been  paid  a  good  deal  more  than  his  contract 
price  ?  Why  should  authors,  presumably  of 
adult  age  and  sound  mind,  plead  the  "baby 
act "  in  regard  to  their  contracts  (or  their  fail- 
ure to  make  contracts),  any  more  than  the 
clients  of  lawyers,  architects,  or  stock-brokers  ? 
Persons  who,  whether  through  their  own  bad 
judgment  or  through  the  wrong  counsel  of 
their  advisers,  pay  more  for  their  house-build- 
ing than  they  had  intended  to,  or  who  find 
themselves  losers  instead  of  winners  in  litiga- 
tion or  in  financial  speculation,  do  not  burden 
the  public  with  their  complaints,  and,  if  they 
did,  they  would  certainly  be  laughed  at  for 
their  pains. 

It  is  my  further  contention  that  it  is  not 
practicable  with  productions  varying  so  largely 


Ube  puba 
lication  bt 
Hutbors  of 

tbeic 
(Grievances 


38 


Hutbors  anD  pul)ltsbet0 


Ube 

Xaeis  of 

publtobing 

Brrango 

meitt* 


as  do  books  in  their  origin,  character,  and 
commercial  possibilities,  to  arrive  at  any  uni- 
form rule  or  practice  as  to  compensation  for 
the  writers,  or  as  to  the  division  of  the  profits 
in  the  cases  in  which  any  profits  accrue.  It 
must  nearly  always  be  necessary  to  judge 
each  case  for  itself,  and  to  arrive  at  a  distinct 
arrangement  for  each  book.  In  laying  down 
the  principles  which,  in  his  judgment,  should 
determine  the  compensation  of  authors,  Sir 
Walter  Besant,  for  instance,  has  occasionally 
taken  as  a  typical  example,  "our  old  friend, 
the  six-shilling  novel,  of  which  not  less  than 
10,000  copies  would  be  sold."  But  Sir  Wal- 
ter's impressions  of  the  salability  of  the  six- 
shilling  novel  are  evidently  based  upon  his 
own  experience  with  such  deservedly  popular 
stories  as  All  Sorts  and  Conditions  of  Men, 
and  The  Children  of  Gibeon.  Far  from  being 
a  normal  instance,  suitable  to  take  as  a  basis  for 
general  calculations,  the  six-shilling  volume 
of  which  10,000  copies  can  be  sold  is  a  de- 
cidedly exceptional  publication,  and  the  num- 
ber of  books  possessing  this  desirable  quality 
would  constitute  a  very  inconsiderable  per- 
centage indeed  of  the  5000  or  6000  works  is- 
sued each  year  in  England,  and  a  still  smaller 
proportion  of  the  3000  or  4000  annual  issues 
of  American  publishers. 

I  summarize  as  follows  the  several  more 
usual   methods  of  publishing  arrangements, 


publisbina  Hrrangements 


39 


the  methods  which  are  of  necessity  subject  to 
a  number  of  variations  as  to  details : 

Class  I. — Books  Published  at  the  Risk  and 
Expense  of  the  Publisher. 

The  publisher  assumes  the  entire  risk  and 
expense  of  the  production  of  the  work.  Un- 
der such  an  arrangement,  the  compensation 
or  return  to  the  author  will  take  one  of  the 
following  forms: 

a. — The  purchase  of  the  copyright  by  the 
publisher. 

Under  this  form  of  arrangement,  the  author 
sells  his  manuscript  outright  for  a  fixed  sum, 
the  publisher  becoming  the  absolute  owner 
of  the  copyright  of  the  work,  and  being  at 
liberty  to  print,  without  any  further  remunera- 
tion to  the  author,  as  many  editions  of  it  as 
he  may  find  demand  for.  Under  such  a  pur- 
chase, unless  there  be  special  provision  to  the 
contrary,  the  publisher  is  also  at  liberty  to 
transfer  to  any  other  publisher  the  copyright 
and  the  right  to  publish,  the  author  retaining 
no  control  over  the  publishing  arrangements 
or  over  the  form  in  which  his  book  is  issued. 
This  ownership  on  the  part  of  the  publisher 
or  his  assignee  is,  as  I  understand  the  condi- 
tions of  the  American  law,  limited  to  twenty- 
eight  years,  the  first  term  of  the  copyright 
that  has  been  secured  under  the  law.  At  the 
expiration  of  this  term,  the  author,  or  if  the 


Ube 
purcbase 

of  tbe 
Cop^erigbt 


40 


Hutbora  ant>  publtsbecs 


Intecnaa 
tional 
Series. 


author  be  dead,  his  widow  or  child,  acquires 
the  right  to  publish  the  material  by  securing  a 
renewal  of  the  copyright  for  the  second  term 
of  fourteen  years,  and  is  at  liberty  to  make  for 
it  what  new  publishing  arrangements  may 
seem  desirable. '  I  think  it  probable  that  the 
author  is  not  in  a  position  at  the  time  of  his 
sale  of  the  first  term  of  copyright  to  include 
in  his  sale  also  the  second  term,  as  it  is  quite 
possible  that  the  ownership  of  such  second 
term  may  never  be  vested  in  him.  I  do  not 
find,  however,  that  this  question  has  been 
passed  upon  by  the  courts.  (For  details  con- 
cerning the  law  of  copyright,  see  a  later 
chapter.) 

The  method  of  a  purchase  of  the  copyright 
is  frequently  adopted  in  the  case  of  books  writ- 
ten at  the  instance  of  the  publishers,  or  "to 
order."  It  is  the  form  of  arrangement  that 
is  found  convenient  for  works  published  in 
series,  such  as  the  International  Science  Series, 
the  English  Men  of  Letters,  the  Stories  of  the 
Nations,  or  the  Heroes  of  the  Nations.  Such 
a  series  has  been  initiated  by  the  publisher, 
and  its  plan  has  frequently  originated  with 
him.  He  has  also  paid  for  the  editorial  work 
which  itself  constitutes  an  important  factor  in 
the  value  of  the  undertaking  as  a  whole.  The 
personality  of  a  man  like  the  late  Edward  L. 
Youmans,  for  instance,  was  very  strongly  im- 
pressed upon  the  International  Science  Series, 


publisbing  arrangements 


41 


the  various  volumes  in  which  had  been  planned 
out  and  arranged  for  by  him  under  a  definite 
scheme.  While  each  volume  possessed  of 
course  a  certain  individual  value  of  its  own, 
due  to  its  subject-matter  and  to  the  labor  of 
its  author,  its  commercial  value,  and  in  some 
instances  its  scientific  authority  was  very  ma- 
terially enhanced  on  account  of  its  association 
with  the  series.  Such  a  consideration  may 
very  properly  find  place  as  one  factor  in  de- 
termining what  should  be  paid  to  an  author 
who  has  been  invited  to  prepare  a  volume  for 
a  series  that  is  fairly  established.  In  cases  in 
which  the  repute  of  the  author  before  the  gen- 
eral public  is  still  to  be  made,  the  association 
of  his  book  in  such  a  series  with  the  con- 
tributions of  older  writers  who  have  already 
secured  recognition,  should  be  in  itself  of 
material  service  to  the  younger  writer. 

One  difficulty  that  arises  with  the  purchase 
of  the  work  outright  by  the  publisher  is  that 
in  the  case  of  a  book  which  secures  any  note- 
worthy or  considerable  success,  the  author, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  has  surrend- 
ered all  claim  to  his  production,  is  very  likely 
to  feel  that  he  ought  to  have  some  share  in 
this  continued  success,  and  that  a  serious  in- 
justice has  been  done  to  him  by  the  publisher 
in  securing  for  a  fixed  price  the  entire  prop- 
erty in  the  book.  This  feeling  is  so  common 
that  in  not  a  few  instances  the  publishers 


Certain 
(Objections 

totbe 
purchase 

5c0tem 


42 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


farrar'6 
"  %IU  of 
Cbrtet " 


have  considered  it  good  policy  or  good  equity, 
in  the  cases  of  books  which  have  secured 
somewhat  exceptional  sales,  to  make  further 
payments  to  the  author,  even  although,  under 
the  original  agreement,  the  entire  property  in 
the  copyright  was  transferred  for  the  con- 
sideration of  the  original  payment. 

The  publication  of  Canon  Farrar's  Life  of 
Christ,  already  referred  to,  was  an  instance 
of  this  kind.  The  publishers  had  planned  the 
book,  had  arranged  with  the  author  for  its 
production,  and  had  paid  the  author  on  the 
delivery  of  his  manuscript  the  full  price  agreed 
upon  (the  amount  of  which  had  been  sug- 
gested by  himself),  and  in  consideration  of 
the  satisfactory  success  secured  by  the  book, 
they  had  made  further  considerable  payments 
which  they  were,  according  to  their  contract, 
under  no  legal  obligation  to  make.  The  first 
of  these  supplementary  payments  the  author 
received  with  appreciation,  but  when,  in  con- 
nection with  two  or  three  further  payments 
of  the  same  kind,  he  learned  that  the  book 
was  securing  a  larger  sale  than  had  been  an- 
ticipated, he  thought  he  had  grounds  for  seri- 
ous dissatisfaction,  and  he  brought  his  griev- 
ances before  the  public  in  a  series  of  printed 
complaints.  A  man  who  had  sold  a  city  lot 
to  purchasers  who  in  connection  with  some 
sudden  increase  in  the  value  of  property  were 
able  to  secure  a  large  profit  on  their  purchase. 


publtsbing  Hrranaements 


43 


would  have  had  as  legitimate  cause  for  com- 
plaint as  was  possessed  by  this  particular  au- 
thor. It  would,  however,  not  have  occurred  to 
the  seller  of  real  estate  to  parade  his  grievance 
or  his  error  of  judgment  before  the  public. 
The  author  whose  book  gives  to  the  pub- 
lisher a  larger  return  than  had  been  calculated 
for  at  the  time  when  the  purchase  of  the  copy- 
right was  made,  is  very  likely  to  forget  that 
such  purchases  must  at  the  best  be  specula- 
tions, and  that  in  all  speculative  purchases  it 
is  an  essential  factor  in  the  business  calculation 
that  in  any  ten  transactions  there  must  be  at 
least  one  from  which  a  sufficient  profit  will  be 
secured  to  offset  the  losses  or  errors  of  judg- 
ment on  certain  of  the  other  nine.  The  calcu- 
lation is  in  certain  respects  similar  to  that  upon 
which  life  insurance  or  fire  insurance  is  based. 
It  depends,  like  these,  upon  the  average  re- 
sults that  have  been  secured  in  a  certain  num- 
ber of  previous  transactions  which  are  taken 
as  precedents.  A  man  who  dies  the  year 
after  he'  has  paid  the  first  premium  on  his 
life-insurance  policy,  makes  for  his  heirs  a 
very  considerable  profit  out  of  the  company. 
The  man  who  pays  premiums  for  fifty  years 
gives  to  the  company  a  larger  amount  than  his 
heirs  will  receive  back  from  it.  He  helps  to 
provide  the  funds  which  are  required  in  con- 
nection with  the  early  death  of  the  other  party 
insured.    He  might  claim  that  it  is  an  injustice 


tCbe 

purcbase 

of  a  Cops* 

rigbt  "neco 

esearili;  a 

Specu* 

lation 

for  JSotb 

parties 


44 


Hutbors  ant)  publtsbers 


IRoealts 
System 


to  tax  an  individual  whose  good  constitution 
or  whose  good  fortune  has  secured  for  him  a 
long  life,  for  the  benefit  of  another  individual 
who  has  been  less  well  endowed  physically  or 
who  has  been  less  fortunate  as  to  vitality.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  insured  person  who,  in 
enjoying  a  long  life,  secures  no  profit  out  of 
his  company,  makes  no  such  complaint.  He 
understands  that  he  has  taken  part  in  a  busi- 
ness combination  which  depends  upon  a  series 
of  averages,  and  that  having  taken  his  chances 
of  profit  or  loss,  it  is  the  part  of  justice  and  of 
common-sense  to  accept  the  results. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  very  long  series  of 
publishing  undertakings  in  which  the  pub- 
lisher, having  accepted  the  speculation  of  the 
purchase  of  the  copyright,  has  made  a  loss  in- 
stead of  a  profit.  There  are  possibly  instances 
in  which  the  authors  whose  books  have  thus 
brought  loss  to  the  hopeful  or  trusting  pub- 
lishers, have  felt  themselves  called  upon  to 
make  good  some  portion  of  this  loss ;  but  1 
admit  that  I  have  not  thus  far  been  able  to  find 
record  in  the  history  of  literary  production  of 
examples  of  this  kind ;  nor  do  I  consider  that 
in  the  strict  equities  of  business,  any  such  re- 
payments are  called  for. 

b. — The  royalty  system  of  compensation. 

Under  a  second  form  of  this  first  class  of 
arrangements,  the  author  retains  the  copy- 


Ipublisbind  Hrrandements 


45 


right  ownership  of  his  work,  and  receives 
from  the  publisher  as  royahy  for  the  copies 
sold  a  certain  percentage  of  the  catalogue 
price.  Such  royalty  is  paid  either  on  all  the 
copies  sold  or  on  all  copies  sold  after  enough 
have  been  sold  to  return  the  first  manufactur- 
ing outlays  and  to  insure  for  the  undertaking  a 
profit  instead  of  a  deficiency.  The  theory  of 
such  a  reservation  is  that  the  author  and  the 
publisher  should  begin  to  make  money  out  of 
the  book  at  the  same  time.  The  royalty  is 
paid  simply  as  a  commutation  of  profits,  and 
it  is  assumed  that  the  payments  should  begin 
when  the  profits  begin  to  accrue.  The  de- 
ficiency on  an  unsuccessful  undertaking  would, 
of  course,  be  increased  if  the  author  received  a 
royalty  on  all  the  copies  sold,  and  it  seems 
that  if  the  publisher  has  consented  to  assume 
the  risk  and  outlay  incurred  in  bringing  a  work 
before  the  public  (a  work  for  the  suggestion 
or  originating  of  which  the  responsibility  has 
rested  not  with  him  but  with  the  author),  he 
ought  not  to  be  called  upon,  if  the  venture 
bring  loss  instead  of  profit,  to  swell  such  loss 
by  the  payment  of  compensation  to  the  author. 
However  much  labor  may  have  been  in- 
vested in  the  work,  it  seems  equitable  that,  if 
it  does  not  show  itself  capable  of  earning  any- 
thing, if  its  commercial  value  proves  to  be  a 
minus  instead  of  a  plus  quantity,  the  author 
should  receive  nothing  for  it. 


Ube 
System 


46 


Hutbors  an&  publtsbcrs 


Ube 

Cla00ia 

tlcation 
ot  J5ooit0 

for 
IRosalties 


This  royalty  is  usually  a  percentage  on  the 
retail  price,  but  for  certain  classes  of  publica- 
tions, such  as  text-books,  juveniles  (books  for 
children),  and  books  sold  by  subscription 
(/.  e.,  through  general  agents  and  canvassers), 
a  wholesale  or  net  price  is  frequently  taken  as 
a  basis  for  the  royalty. 

It  has  sometimes  been  rather  hastily  imag- 
ined that,  under  an  arrangement  by  which 
the  author  receives  on  copies  sold  of  a  dollar 
book  a  royalty  of  lo  cents,  the  publisher 
secures  from  his  share  of  the  proceeds  90 
cents.  (I  have  seen  this  calculation  gravely 
submitted  in  an  author's  letter  to  a  journal.) 
A  minute's  calculation  will  show,  however, 
how  far  this  is  from  bein^  the  case.  The 
volume  published  at  a  dollar,  is  very  fre- 
quently, in  the  first  place,  sold  by  the  retail 
bookseller  to  his  customer  at  80  cents.  The 
publisher  receives  for  it  from  the  wholesale 
dealer,  not  90  cents,  but  60  cents,  or  55  cents, 
or  sometimes  but  50  cents.  After  deducting 
from  this  the  cost  of  manufacturing  the  volume 
and  the  proportion  belonging  to  each  copy 
sold  of  the  cost  of  the  copies  printed  and  not 
sold,  and  the  further  cost  of  the  typesetting, 
electrotyping,  illustrations,  press  copies,  adver- 
tising, etc.,  there  would  rarely  remain  as  much 
net  profit  as  20  cents,  and  of  this  10  cents  (or 
for  books  which  have  made  a  substantial  suc- 
cess, 1 5  cents)  would  go  to  the  author.     The 


publisbing  arrangements 


47 


royalty  of  ten  per  cent,  of  the  retail  price  was 
in  fact  calculated  on  the  basis  of  securing  for 
the  author  an  average  return  of  half  the  net 
profits.  In  later  years,  however,  the  rates  of 
discount  to  the  distributing  dealers  have  been 
increased,  lessening  proportionately  the  net 
price  received  by  the  publisher,  while  for  suc- 
cessful books  the  rates  of  royalty  to  the  author 
have  been  increased.  It  is  probable,  there- 
fore, that,  under  present  conditions,  the  aver- 
age return  coming  to  the  authors  from  their 
royalties  represents  considerably  more  than 
half  of  the  net  profits. 

In  cases  in  which  a  certain  number  of  copies 
have  been  excepted  from  the  royalty  on  the 
ground  that  unless  or  until  that  number  has 
been  sold  there  will  be  no  profits  to  divide,  it 
is  occasionally  arranged  that,  after  a  substantial 
success  has  been  secured  by  the  sale  of  5000 
copies  or  possibly  of  3000  copies,  a  royalty 
should  be  paid  also  on  the  first  1 000.  If  the  work 
contain  illustrations,  the  cost  of  the  designing 
and  of  the  engraving  of  these,  and  such  addi- 
tion to  the  selling  price  as  may  be  warranted 
on  the  ground  of  the  book  being  illustrated, 
form  a  necessary  factor  concerning  the  royalty. 
While  a  book  published  without  illustrations, 
at  a  normal  selling  price,  can,  as  a  rule,  be 
made  to  return  the  first  cost  of  its  production 
with  a  sale  of  from  1000  to  1500  copies,  for  a 
work  in  which  any  considerable  outlay  has 


Zbc 

2>ivi8ton 

of  tbe 

"■Ret 

proceeds  " 


48 


Hutbors  ant)  ipublisbers 


3E;ampIe0 

of  tbe 

IRocaltc 

SC0tem 


been  made  for  illustrations  or  maps,  a  sale  of 
2000  or  even  3000  copies  may  be  required  to 
return  the  original  outlay.  It  is  therefore  in 
order,  for  a  book  of  this  character,  to  provide 
for  the  exception  from  royalty  of  a  larger 
number  of  copies,  or  at  least  to  defer  the  pay- 
ment of  royalty  upon  a  larger  number  of 
copies,  until  the  sales  have  been  sufficient  to 
return  the  cost  of  the  illustrations  as  well  as 
of  the  typesetting.  The  selling  price  of  a 
work  which,  without  illustrations,  may  be 
published  at  $1.50  or  $2.00,  could  be  made,  in 
connection  with  artistic  illustrations  effectively 
reproduced,  $2. 50  or  even  $5.00.  The  deter- 
mination of  price  might  frequently  depend, 
for  an  illustrated  book,  more  largely  upon  the 
character  and  costliness  of  the  illustrations 
than  upon  the  amount  or  the  nature  of  the 
text.  If  the  publisher  has  purchased,  from  the 
designers  or  artists,  the  designs  of  the  illustra- 
tions, he  is  the  owner  of  the  copyright  of 
these  designs,  and  he  is,  as  a  rule,  entitled 
therefore  to  receive  for  himself  the  royalty  on 
that  portion  of  the  selling  price  which  may  be 
considered  as  representing  the  value  of  the 
illustrations  exclusive  of  the  author's  text. 

For  an  illustrated  book,  published  at  $5.00, 
we  may  assume,  for  the  purpose  of  this  ex- 
ample, that  $2.50,  or  one  half  of  the  selling 
price,  represents  the  illustrations  and  the  re- 
mainder the  text.      A  royalty  of  50  cents 


publidbina  Hrrandements 


49 


payable  to  the  owner  or  owners  of  the  copy- 
right should  therefore  be  divided,  25  cents 
going  to  the  author  and  25  cents  to  the  artist 
in  case  he  has  himself  retained  the  copyright 
in  his  designs,  or  to  the  publisher  if  (as  is  more 
usual)  the  publisher  has  made  full  payment 
for  these  designs.  The  calculation  would,  of 
course,  have  to  be  modified  in  the  instance  in 
which  the  author  supplies  not  only  the  text 
but  the  designs  for  the  illustrations,  leaving 
for  the  publisher  the  expense  of  the  engraving 
of  the  illustrations  in  addition  to  that  of  the 
typesetting  and  electrotyping  of  the  text. 

In  the  case  of  books  published  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  publisher  and  under  a  royalty 
arrangement  with  the  author,  the  ownership 
of  the  copyright  is  vested  in  the  author.  His 
agreement  with  his  publisher  may  be  made 
either  for  the  full  term  of  the  copyright,  or  for 
a  shorter  period,  such  as  five  or  ten  years.  If 
the  latter  course  has  been  adopted,  the  author 
is  in  a  position,  at  the  expiration  of  the  agree- 
ment, to  make  a  fresh  and  possibly  a  more 
favorable  royalty  arrangement.  Under  such 
renewal  or  extension  of  the  agreement  for  a 
book  which  has  won  for  itself  continuous 
appreciation  and  has  secured  increasing  sales, 
it  is  in  order  for  the  author  to  receive  a  higher 
rate  of  royalty  than  that  which  was  warranted 
when  the  undertaking  was  first  entered  upon 
and  when  it  was,  like  most  publishing  under- 


Ube 
Ownecebfp 

of  tbe 
Copietlgbt 


so 


Hutbors  ant)  publtsbers 


IRates  of 
•RosaltB 
propoca 
ttoned  to 
lErtent  of 
Sales 


takings,  in  the  nature  of  an  experiment. 
There  is,  in  fact,  an  increase  in  the  practice  of 
making  provision  in  the  original  agreement 
for  some  increase  in  the  rate  of  royalty  after  a 
certain  number  of  copies  have  been  sold.  A 
v/ork  which  has  the  quality  of  finding  sale  for 
10,000,  20,000,  or  30,000,  or  more  copies,  such 
a  book,  for  instance,  as  Ben  Hur  or  The  Leav- 
enworth Case,  costs  less  to  produce  when  it 
can  be  printed  in  large  lots,  say  5000  copies 
at  a  time,  while  the  cost  of  selling  and  dis- 
tributing is  also  proportionately  reduced. 
There  is,  for  instance,  no  greater  clerical 
labor  involved  in  selling  ten  lots  of  100  copies 
each  than  in  selling  ten  lots  of  one  copy  each. 
When  a  book  has  secured  for  itself  such  pres- 
tige that  its  fame  is  carried  from  one  group 
of  readers  and  admirers  to  another,  the  cost 
of  advertising,  or  at  least  the  proportion  of 
advertising  to  the  returns  from  the  sales,  can 
be  very  materially  reduced.  On  these  several 
grounds,  the  maximum  profit  per  1000  copies 
sold  is  increased,  and  the  author  is  entitled 
to  receive  a  larger  proportion  of  this  profit,  a 
proportion  which  usually  takes  the  shape  of 
an  increase  in  the  rate  of  royalty. 

On  the  following  classes  of  books  it  is,  as  a 
rule,  not  practicable  to  pay  the  same  rates  of 
royalty  that  can  be  afforded  on  general  litera- 
ture sold  in  the  usual  forms  :  text-books, 
juveniles  (the  trade  term  given  to  books  for 


publisbfng  Hrrangements  si 


children),  books  sold  by  subscription  (that  is,      «&««»- 
through  canvassers),  and  paper-bound  novels.       ^^^^g 

In  the  case  of  text-books,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  publishing  outlay  consists  in 
the  expenses  connected  with  the  securing  of 
introductory  orders.  The  introduction  of  a 
school-book  into  the  official  list  of  books 
accepted  for  the  city,  county,  or  State,  in- 
volves, as  a  rule,  the  employment  of  expensive 
travelling  agents,  the  cost  of  whose  operations 
includes  sometimes,  in  addition  to  travelling 
expenses,  large  items  under  the  head  of  "  in- 
cidentals." It  not  unfrequently  happens  also 
that  educational  Houses  competing  for  a  mar- 
ket that  is  expected  to  prove  profitable  in  the 
future,  will  be  willing  to  agree  to  sell  the  first 
quarterly  or  even  the  first  annual  supplies  at 
nominal  prices,  prices  which  may  sometimes 
yield  nothing  beyond  the  current  cost  of  the 
production  of  the  volumes.  As  a  result  of 
these  competing  operations,  some  thousand 
copies  of  a  book  may  be  sold  not  only  at 
no  profit  but  at  an  actual  loss.  There  is,  of 
course,  the  expectation  of  profit  during  the 
continuing  years  of  the  contract,  and  in  the 
advantage  of  such  further  sales  the  author  has 
a  very  direct  interest.  In  recognition,  there- 
fore, of  the  special  expenditures  connected 
with  the  sale  of  text-books  and  of  the  im- 
portance of  placing  the  publisher  in  a  position 
to  compete  efleptively  with  the  publishers  of 


52 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


SOOI10  foe 
Cbilbren 


rival  text-books  on  the  same  subjects,  it  is 
customary  for  authors  to  accept  a  lower  rate 
of  royalty  for  text-books  than  would  be  in 
order  for  a  work  of  general  literature. 

Juveniles,  or  books  for  children,  are,  under 
old-time  bookselling  custom,  sold  by  the  pub- 
lishers to  the  booksellers  at  much  larger  dis- 
counts than  those  that  are  given  on  general 
literature.  While  a  work  of  standard  history, 
for  instance,  published  at  $2.00,  would  usually 
be  sold  by  the  publisher  to  the  wholesale 
dealer  at  not  less  than  $1.20,  a  volume  of  the 
same  catalogue  price  belonging  to  the  list  of 
juveniles,  would  bring  to  the  publisher  a  net 
price  of  not  over  $1.00,  and  sometimes  even 
less.  The  retail  bookseller,  on  his  part,  is  in 
the  habit  of  accepting  for  juveniles  considera- 
bly less  than  the  catalogue  price.  As  a  result, 
this  catalogue  price,  although  still  forming 
the  basis  upon  which  the  royalty  is  calculated, 
becomes  in  fact  a  nominal  rather  than  a  real 
price.  The  author  of  juveniles,  therefore,  in 
accepting  a  lower  rate  of  royalty  on  this 
nominal  price  of  his  volume,  secures  in  fact  a 
royalty  which  is  as  large  in  proportion  to  the 
net  wholesale  price  received  by  the  publisher 
as  that  which  is  given  to  an  author  for  a  work 
in  general  literature. 

For  books  sold  through  canvassers,  the 
buyers  pay,  as  a  rule,  the  full  subscription  or 
publication  price.     The  net  wholesale  price 


publisbing  Hrrangcments 


53 


received  by  the  publisher  is,  however,  very 
much  smaller  than  that  which  he  secures  for 
books  sold  through  the  channels  of  the  book- 
shop. It  is  necessary  in  the  subscription 
trade  to  give  to  the  general  agent,  who  con- 
trols some  considerable  district,  a  commission 
to  cover  the  value  of  his  services  and  the 
expenses  of  running  his  office.  The  general 
agent  on  his  part  must  give  to  the  sub-agent, 
who  controls  a  smaller  district,  a  portion  of 
this  commission ;  while  the  service  of  the  can- 
vasser, who  does  the  work  of  soliciting  orders, 
can  be  secured  only  through  the  payment  of 
a  commission  which,  while  in  appearance 
large,  is  found  by  experience  to  be  requisite 
to  cover  the  large  proportion  of  wasted  effort 
and  to  constitute  a  sufficient  inducement  for 
skilled  and  difficult  labor. 

The  advantage  to  the  author  in  getting  his 
book  into  the  hands  of  canvassers,  is  the  op- 
portunity of  bringing  it  to  the  attention  of  a 
large  number  of  possible  buyers  who  do  not 
visit  book-shops  and  who  can  be  induced  to 
purchase  books  only  through  the  personal 
efforts  of  canvassers.  Authors  are,  of  course, 
well  pleased  to  have  their  works  thoroughly 
presented  through  extensive  territories,  and 
they  not  unfrequently  themselves  submit  to 
their  publishers  the  suggestion  that  their  books 
ought  to  be  pushed  through  canvassers.  It 
is  the  case,  however,  that  but  a  very  small 


3EOOlt0 

So\b 

tbrougb 

Canvaeea 

ers 


54 


Hutbora  and  publlsbers 


Soolte 

Solt> 

tbcougb 

aanvaBSs 

ere 


proportion  of  books  are  suitable  for  this  class 
of  trade.  The  canvassers,  whose  time  is 
valuable  and  whose  travelling  expenses  are 
heavy,  are  entirely  unwilling  to  experiment 
with  works  concerning  the  sale  of  which  they 
do  not  feel  fairly  assured,  and  if  after  a  few 
experiments  a  canvasser  does  not  find  his 
particular  class  of  customers  interested  in  a 
book  experimented  with,  he  very  promptly 
declines  to  give  to  this  particular  work  any 
further  share  of  his  attention.  The  publishers 
are  in  any  case  unable  to  utilize  for  this  class 
of  trade  any  books  on  which  heavy  royalties 
are  demanded  ;  while  for  successful  works 
(such,  for  instance,  as  Mark  Twain's  Innocents 
Abroad)  which  happen  to  meet  the  special 
requirements  of  the  canvassers  and  their  cus- 
tomers, the  author  can  often  secure  a  much 
larger  profit  with  a  comparatively  small  rate 
of  royalty  than  would  have  come  to  him  from 
a  much  larger  royalty  on  a  book  sold  through 
the  booksellers. 

With  the  paper-bound  novels,  also,  the 
publishers  are  under  the  necessity  of  giving  to 
the  booksellers,  both  wholesale  and  retail,  a 
larger  average  discount  than  is  given  on  simi- 
lar supplies  of  bound  volumes  in  general  litera- 
ture. A  book  in  the  latter  class,  for  instance, 
published  at  $i.oo  will,  as  a  rule,  bring  to  the 
publisher  a  net  price  of  60  cents  or  not  less 
than  55  cents.     A  novel  containing  the  same 


publisbing  HrranQcments 


55 


amount  of  material  and  costing  the  same  sum 
to  put  into  type,  will  be  issued  in  paper 
covers  at  50  cents  and  the  publisher  will 
receive  for  copies  sold  $25.00  per  hundred  or 
25  cents  per  copy.  There  will  also  be  a 
considerable  loss  on  the  copies  of  these  paper- 
bound  novels  returned  unsold  with  damaged 
covers  or  so  far  damaged  as  to  be  altogether 
unsalable  even  if  re-covered.  While  a  volume 
of  average  size  published  in  cloth  at  $1.00  can 
be  made  to  return  the  first  cost  of  its  type- 
setting with  a  sale  of  from  1000  to  1200 
copies  (exclusive  of  the  payment  to  the 
author),  the  same  material  if  published  in 
paper  covers  will  require  a  sale  of  from  2000 
to  3000  copies  to  return  the  cost  of  its  pro- 
duction (also  exclusive  of  author's  compensa- 
tion) together  with  the  waste  on  the  damaged 
copies. 

The  amount  paid  for  advertising  constitutes 
also,  of  necessity,  a  larger  proportionate  out- 
lay for  a  volume  published  at  50  cents,  or  less, 
than  for  one  priced  at  $1.00  or  more.  An 
advertisement  in  a  morning  paper  costing, 
say,  $25.00,  can  be  made  to  pay  if  by  its  means 
a  sale  is  secured  of  20  copies  of  a  five-dollar 
book,  or  of  100  copies  of  a  dollar  book,  while 
of  a  50-cent  book  the  money  would  not  be 
returned  from  a  sale  of  less  than  250  copies. 

When  from  the  net  price  of  25  cents  received 
for  a  50-cent  novel,  the  publisher  has  paid  an 


fiction  in 
paper 
Covers 


56 


Hutbors  an^  pubUsbets 


3B00it« 

£rcepte& 

from 
IRocaltc 


author's  royalty  of  5  cents,  and  the  propor- 
tion of  the  cost  of  advertising,  and  of  waste 
on  damaged  copies  and  on  unused  or  "  re- 
mainder "  copies,  there  will  remain,  as  a  rule, 
but  two  or  three  cents  over  the  current  cost 
of  production.  On  these  grounds,  a  higher 
rate  of  royalty  than  the  normal  ten  per  cent.,  or 
a  rising  rate  of  royalty  increasing  with  the 
sales,  is,  as  a  rule,  impracticable  for  paper- 
bound  novels. 

Agreements  under  the  royalty  system 
usually  provide  that  no  royalty  shall  be  paid 
on  copies  of  the  books  given  away  for  the 
purpose  of  aiding  its  sale  {i.e.,  to  reviewers 
or  instructors),  on  copies  destroyed  by  fire,  or 
on  copies  sold  as  "remainders"  at  a  price 
which  gives  nothing  over  the  actual  cost  of 
production. 

c.  Payments  in  lieu  of  royalties. 

The  third  form  of  arrangement  under  this 
first  general  class  provides  for  a  minimum  pay- 
ment to  be  made  by  the  publisher  on  the 
publication  of  the  work  or  at  some  speci- 
fied date  thereafter,  with  an  additional  pay- 
ment or  payments  after  a  certain  number  of 
copies  have  been  sold,  say  5000  or  10,000. 
When  the  final  payment  called  for  by  the 
agreement  has  been  made,  the  ownership  of 
the  copyright  passes  from  the  author  to  the 
publisher.     This  arrangement  is  in  line  with 


publisbing  Hrrangements 


57 


the  royalty  publishing  arrangement  in  so  far 
as  it  makes  the  amount  of  the  author's  total 
compensation  contingent  upon  and  propor- 
tioned to  the  extent  of  the  sales.  It  differs 
from  the  royalty  arrangement  in  guaranteeing 
a  certain  minimum  payment  and  in  fixing  a 
certain  point  at  which  the  ownership  of  the 
copyright  passes  from  the  author  to  the 
publisher.  In  the  consideration  of  the  guaran- 
teed payment  and  of  a  somewhat  larger  re- 
turn for  a  sale  of  5000  copies  or  of  10,000 
copies  than  that  which  he  would  secure  under 
a  royalty  arrangement,  the  author  finds  it  to 
his  interest  to  surrender  his  lien  upon  the  pro- 
ceeds of  sales  beyond  that  point. 

Such  an  arrangement  also  involves  a  certain 
speculation  on  each  side.  If  the  book  should 
continue  in  active  and  remunerative  sale,  the 
publisher  will  secure  an  advantage  on  the 
strength  of  his  preliminary  payments  and 
of  the  transfer  to  him  of  the  copyright.  If, 
however,  the  sale  should  cease  before  the  limit 
specified  in  the  agreement  has  been  reached, 
the  author  would  secure,  in  addition  to  the 
convenience  of  a  cash  advance,  an  advantage 
in  receiving  for  the  copies  sold  an  amount 
somewhat  in  excess  of  that  which  would 
have  come  to  him  under  a  royalty  per  copy. 

d.   The  half-profit  system. 

The  fourth  form  of  arrangement  under  this 


Ubc 

Commuta 

ation  of 

•Rosalts 

pacmente 


58 


Butbors  anC)  ffjublisbers 


TTbe  f)alf« 
profit 
S\>«tem 


first  class  is  that  known  as  "  the  half-profit " 
system,  under  which  the  author  receives  a 
fixed  proportion  (usually  one  half)  of  the 
"  net  profits  "  secured  from  the  publication. 
The  author's  contribution  to  the  undertaking 
has  been  his  literary  production,  while  the 
publisher  has  contributed  his  imprint  and  pub- 
lishing connection  and  has  provided  the  capi- 
tal required  to  put  the  book  into  print  and  to 
bring  it  before  the  public,  and  the  further 
amounts  that  are  needed  later  for  current 
publishing  expenses.  If  the  sales  prove  insuf- 
ficient to  return  the  publishing  outlays,  so  that 
there  are  no  profits,  the  author  receives  under 
such  an  arrangement  no  compensation  for  his 
labor.  The  public  has  been  unwilling  to  pay 
for  his  book  the  amount  required  to  bring  the 
book  to  its  attention.  The  value  of  the  liter- 
ary labor  expended  upon  the  work  has,  in 
fact,  if  reckoned  by  a  commercial  standard, 
proved  to  be  a  minus  quantity. 

Objections  to  the  "  half-profit  system  "  have 
been  made  on  a  variety  of  grounds.  The 
most  obvious  difficulty,  from  the  business 
point  of  view,  is  the  clerical  labor  and  expense 
involved  in  keeping  with  each  book,  in  any 
considerable  list  of  publications,  an  account,  in 
any  such  detailed  and  precise  form  as  to  render 
it  available  later  for  use  as  a  voucher,  of  the 
direct  expenses  connected  with  the  produc- 
tion and  the  sale  of  the  book,  and  also  of  as- 


pubUsbtnQ  arranaements 


59 


certaining,  with  any  degree  of  accuracy,  its 
proportion  of  what  may  be  called  the  indirect 
expenses,  that  is  to  say,  its  share  of  the  cost 
of  the  maintenance  of  the  publishing  ma- 
chinery through  which  sales  are  secured  for 
the  entire  series  of  books  on  the  list  of  any 
one  publishing  House. 

We  may  assume,  for  the  purpose  of  illus- 
tration, that  at  a  given  period  the  catalogue  of 
a  publishing  concern  comprises  one  hundred 
books,  and  that  all  of  these  books  have  been 
issued  on  the  half-profit  arrangement.  It  be- 
comes necessary,  therefore,  in  order  to  have 
figures  in  shape  for  reference  on  the  part  of 
the  one  hundred  authors  or  of  their  respective 
business  agents,  that  a  precise  record  should 
be  kept  of  the  debits  or  charges  against  each 
work  under  all  the  classes  of  outlay  incurred  in 
its  publication,  in  its  sale,  and  in  the  efforts  to 
secure  sales  for  it.  These  expenses  will  in- 
clude such  divisions  as  the  following:  type- 
setting, electrotyping  (in  case  plates  are  made), 
illustrations  and  maps  (covering  designing, 
engraving,  payment  for  authorizations,  etc.), 
paper,  presswork,  binding  (including  cost  of 
designs  for  covers  and  cost  of  making  from 
these  designs  the  brass  cover-stamps),  show- 
bills (including  cost  of  designs  as  well  as  of 
engraving),  advertising,  descriptive  circulars 
(including  cost  of  the  postage  and  clerical  out- 
lay incurred  under  any  specific  distribution  of 


(Objections 

totbe 

DaIN 

profit 

S^etem 


6o 


Butbocs  an^  publisbera 


TTbe 

Clerical 

Xaboc 

Involved 

in 
Iteeping 
3>etaiU& 
Bccounts 

witb 

Separate 

JBooiis 


these  circulars  among  special  classes  of  readers 
whom  it  is  hoped  to  interest  in  the  book),  re- 
view copies  (including  the  postage  on  such  as 
may  have  to  be  sent  direct  by  mail),  the  loss 
on  copies  which  have  been  sent  out  to  book- 
sellers and  have  been  returned  unsold  and 
more  or  less  damaged,  the  insurance  on  the 
plates  and  on  the  averaged  value  of  the  por- 
tions of  the  editions  kept  in  stock  in  the 
warehouse. 

In  addition  to  these  direct  expenses  which 
must  be  charged  specifically  to  each  work  for 
which  a  half-profit  account  is  to  be  carried  on, 
it  is  evident  that  under  the  status  assumed  for 
the  business  taken  as  an  example,  it  might  be 
in  order,  if  the  actual  profits  were  to  be  ascer- 
tained, to  divide  among  the  hundred  books 
during  each  year  in  which  these  books  are  in 
course  of  publication,  the  running  expenses  of 
the  business,  that  is  to  say,  the  cost  of  carrying 
on  the  publishing  machinery.  Under  this 
heading  would  come  such  items  as  rent, 
salaries  of  clerks  and  of  salesmen,  together 
with  the  travelling  expenses  of  the  latter,  the 
deterioration  on  the  unsold  stock  carried  over, 
the  losses  on  bad  debts,  and  the  advertising  in 
the  general  catalogues,  etc.,  which  are  devoted 
to  the  list  as  an  entirety. 

If  the  business  undertaking  covered  a  farm 
or  the  management  of  a  patent,  for  which  one 
party  contributed  the  acres  or  the  invention. 


pubUsbina  Hrranaements 


6i 


and  the  other  the  working  capital,  the  division 
of  expenditures  and  of  the  net  profits  above 
expenditures  would  be  made  on  some  such 
basis,  as  that  above  indicated. 

In  publishing  undertakings,  however,  ac- 
cording to  the  ordinary  routine  of  "half- 
profit  "  arrangements,  it  is  provided  or  at  least 
understood  that  there  will  be  charged  to  each 
book  only  the  direct  expenses.  I  point  out, 
however,  that  even  with  this  limitation  the 
clerical  labor  in  keeping  such  an  account 
becomes  itself  a  serious  item  in  the  course  of 
the  publication  of  the  book. 

The  second  objection  to  this  class  of  pub- 
lishing arrangement  is  the  difficulty  of  making 
clear  to  authors  and  particularly  to  authors 
whose  business  experience  has  been  limited, 
the  nature  of  the  various  expenses  connected 
with  the  manufacturing,  the  advertising,  and 
the  selling  of  books.  It  is  almost  equally  un- 
satisfactory, from  the  publisher's  point  of  view, 
to  have  relations  with  an  author  who,  being 
doubtful  or  suspicious  concerning  the  equity 
or  accuracy  of  certain  items  in  the  charges 
against  his  book,  makes  no  enquiries  or  com- 
plaints, but  retains  in  his  mind  the  feeling  that 
he  has  not  been  properly  dealt  with,  as  to 
have  to  do  with  an  author  whose  enquiries 
and  complaints  are  reiterative  and  are  unintel- 
ligent. Under  the  latter  heading,  will  be 
classed  complaints  which  give  evidence  of  an 


Srpenses 
of  puba 
Ittblng 


62 


Hutbors  an^  publisbers 


furtbec 
Objections 
totbe 
-balf- 
pront 
Scstetn 


utter  lack  of  business  understanding  and  which 
therefore  make  almost  hopeless  the  task  on  the 
part  of  the  publisher  of  clearing  up  misappre- 
hensions and  of  giving  information  that  can  be 
understood.  It  is  sometimes  overlooked  on 
the  part  of  the  authors  that  if  a  publisher  is  to 
carry  on  his  business  intelligently,  he  must  be 
permitted  to  retain  some  control  of  his  office 
hours.  Just  in  so  far  as  any  large  measure  of 
these  working  hours  must  be  devoted  to  what 
he  calls  his  "botheration  account,"  that  is  to 
say,  to  answering  futile  questions,  to  supply- 
ing reports  or  approximate  guesses  concerning 
sales  at  times  of  the  year  when  he  has  before 
him  no  statistics  upon  which  trustworthy 
reports  can  be  based,  to  carrying  on  unprofit- 
able correspondence  about  unprofitable  books, 
with  authors  who  have  no  adequate  under- 
standing either  of  their  own  rights  and  re- 
sponsibilities or  of  those  of  the  publisher,  just 
in  so  far  he  is  hampered  in  giving  adequate 
and  intelligent  attention  to  the  rival  claims  of 
other  authors  whose  works  do  possess  im- 
portance, whose  questions  are  pertinent,  and 
whose  schemes  for  further  literary  under- 
takings call  for  careful  publishing  consider- 
ation and  editorial  suggestion,  and  he  is 
prevented  from  giving  such  personal  super- 
vision to  his  business  as  a  whole  as  may  do 
justice  to  his  clients  and  may  ensure  for  such 
business  prospects  of  success. 


publfsbing  BrrartGements 


(>z 


The  case  would  be  paralleled  if  a  lawyer 
with  forty-five  valuable  and  sensible  clients 
should  permit  five  other  clients  whose  business 
was  comparatively  unimportant  and  whose 
understanding  of  their  responsibilities  and  of 
those  of  their  counsel  was  inadequate,  to  take 
up  office  time,  or  correspondence  time,  or  per- 
sonal attention  in  such  manner  as  to  imperil  or 
to  hamper  the  successful  administration  of  the 
whole  business  of  the  office.  The  lawyer, 
however,  has  the  advantage  in  defending  him- 
self and  his  office  against  time- wasting  clients 
in  that,  according  to  the  old-time  professional 
routine,  he  is  at  liberty  to  make  a  charge,  and 
is  expected  to  make  a  charge,  for  each  inter- 
view (  /.  e.  "consultation  "  )  and  for  each  let- 
ter. The  publisher,  on  the  other  hand,  who 
has  agreed  to  publish  a  book,  is  expected  to 
hold  himself  and  his  hours  at  the  full  disposal 
of  each  one  of  his  authors,  whether  these  be 
wise  or  foolish,  considerate  or  inconsiderate, 
important  members  of  the  literary  guild  or 
inexperienced  beginners.  Particularly  is  this 
true  in  the  cases  of  books  issued  under  the 
""half-profit"  arrangement,  in  which  cases 
the  author  feels  (and  not  unnaturally)  that  he 
has  an  interest  in,  and  is  entitled  to  informa- 
tion concerning  every  detail  connected  with 
the  publication. 

The  third  objection  from  the  publisher's 
point  of  view,  an  objection  already  referred 


Ube 

Btivana 

tage 

b^tbe 

Classes  of 

profesa 

sional 

Bbvisers 


64 


autbors  smX>  publisbers 


(^biectione 

totbe 

«alf> 

profit 

System 


to,  is  that,  according  to  the  precedents  thus 
far  in  force,  the  half-profit  arrangement  makes 
no  provision  for  any  division  of  the  losses. 
If  the  book  makes  a  success,  it  is  the  under- 
standing of  the  author  that  the  net  proceeds 
should  be  divided  equally  between  the  author 
who  supplies  the  literary  labor,  and  the  pub- 
lisher who  supplies  the  first  capital  for  the 
publication  and  the  further  amount  required 
for  current  publishing  expenses.  If,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  undertaking  results  in  a  loss, 
it  is  a  further  theory  of  the  author  that  the 
entire  amount  of  this  loss  should  be  borne  by 
the  publisher.  I  know  no  other  class  of  busi- 
ness undertakings  in  which  a  division  of  the 
profits  has  been  arranged  for  between  the 
parties  who  have  contributed  to  the  venture 
by  labor  or  by  investment,  and  who  have 
through  such  contributions  become  joint 
owners  of  such  venture,  in  which  it  is  not 
understood  that  the  division  of  the  results 
applies  to  losses  as  well  as  to  profits. 

A  fourth  objection  to  the  half-profit  system 
which  is  from  time  to  time  emphasized  on  the 
part  of  the  authors,  is  that  the  author  is  not  in 
a  position  to  verify  the  accuracy  of  the  charges 
made  by  the  publisher  against  the  book,  and 
that  these  charges  are  frequently  made  to  in- 
clude items  which  do  not  properly  belong  in 
such  an  amount  or  amoiints  which  have  been 
unduly  increased  by  manufacturing  commis- 


IPublisbing  arranaements 


65 


sions  or  "  secret  profit,"  which  is  appropriated 
by  the  publisher.  The  remedy  for  such  a  dif- 
ficulty is  to  be  sought  in  one  or  two  direct- 
ions. The  author  should,  in  the  first  place, 
at  the  time  the  publication  agreement  is  exe- 
cuted, secure  from  the  publisher  an  estimate 
upon  which  this  agreement  will  be  based, 
showing  the  amount  that  the  publisher  pro- 
poses to  debit  against  the  book  or  against  the 
joint  account,  for  the  various  items  compris- 
ing the  cost  of  its  publication  and  distribu- 
tion. The  estimate  for  the  use  of  such  joint 
account  should,  in  fact,  be  as  precise  and  as 
full  as  if  the  book  were  to  be  undertaken  at 
the  entire  cost  of  the  author.  This  estimate 
would  remain  available  for  future  reference, 
and  in  so  far  as  the  conditions  of  the  publica- 
tion (that  is  to  say,  the  amount  of  the  mate- 
rial to  be  printed,  the  style  of  the  printing, 
the  amount  of  changes  made  in  the  text  while 
it  was  going  through  the  press,  the  outlay  for 
advertising,  the  cost  of  circulars,  etc.),  have 
not  been  modified  under  the  instructions  of 
the  author  or  under  later  agreement  between 
the  author  and  the  publisher,  the  final  charge 
against  the  joint  account  should,  of  course,  be 
in  exact  accord  with  the  amounts  specified  in 
the  original  estimate,  and  must,  in  any  case, 
be  in  accord  with  the  rates  so  specified. 

An  author  who  has  delayed   signing  his 
agreement  until  such  an  estimate  has  been 


Objections 

totbe 

Dalf. 

profit 

System 


ee 


Hutbors  anC)  publisbers 


Setimates 

of 

C«st 


placed  before  him,  is  of  course  still  at  liberty 
to  secure  from  other  publishers  similar  pub- 
lishing propositions,  accompanied  by  esti- 
mates which  will  place  him  in  a  position  to 
select  the  arrangement  which  appears  to  him 
to  be  on  the  whole  the  most  favorable.  In 
arriving  at  such  a  decision,  however,  he  should 
keep  before  him  not  only  the  precise  figures 
of  the  several  estimates,  but  the  general  stand- 
ard of  book-making  which  characterizes  the 
publications  of  the  several  publishing  Houses 
in  question,  the  probable  relative  advantage, 
for  his  particular  purpose,  of  their  several  im- 
prints, and  of  their  trade  connections,  trans- 
atlantic or  colonial,  etc.,  and  also  his  own 
impression  as  to  the  amount  of  personal  at- 
tention he  can  expect  to  secure  from  one 
publisher  or  another  for  his  particular  literary 
venture. 

Unless  the  author  may  himself  have  had 
such  business  experience  as  places  him  in  a 
position  to  judge  about  details  of  book-manu- 
facturing, it  will,  of  course,  also  be  desirable 
for  him  to  submit  to  some  counsellor  who 
does  possess  the  requisite  technical  know- 
ledge, the  figures  submitted  in  the  estimate  or 
in  the  several  estimates  which  are  to  be  com- 
pared. There  is,  however,  of  necessity  the 
risk  in  such  comparisons  that  the  different 
figures  may  not  refer  to  work  of  precisely  the 
same  standard  of  manufacture.     It  must  al- 


publisbina  Hrrangemcnts 


67 


ways  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  is  in  the 
details  of  bookmaking,  and  in  the  expendi- 
tures required  for  such  details,  almost  as  much 
opportunity  for  variation  as  in  the  building  of 
a  house.  It  would  therefore  be  as  sensible  to 
speak  of  one  house  of  ten  rooms  having  been 
much  less  expensive  to  construct  than  another 
with  the  same  accommodation,  and  that  there- 
fore the  builder  of  the  second  structure  must 
have  been  guilty  of  "overcharges,"  as  to  make 
a  similar  conclusion  concerning  the  relative  cost 
of  two  books  containing  each  the  same  num- 
ber of  pages. 

These  several  comparisons  and  examina- 
tions should  in  any  case  precede  the  execu- 
tion of  the  contract.  After  the  work  provided 
for  under  the  contract  has  been  carried  out, 
and  the  expense  of  the  same  has  been  debited 
against  the  joint  publishing  account,  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  agreement  and  in  accord- 
ance with  the  specifications  in  the  estimate 
(previously  passed  upon  and  accepted),  there 
is  no  propriety  in  raising  questions  concern- 
ing the  equity  of  the  prices  or  of  the  items 
charged.  All  of  the  above  suggestions  and 
specifications  apply,  of  course,  with  equal  or 
with  greater  force  to  publishing  arrangements 
under  which  the  entire  cost  of  the  production 
of  the  book  is  to  be  borne  by  the  author. 

A  second  objection  that  is  submitted  on 
the  part  of  the  authors  and  that  has  formed 


Sstimatee 
of 

Cost 


6S 


Hutbots  ant)  publisbers 


SMvioion 

of 
pcoceeM 


the  text  for  a  number  of  criticisms  and  admon- 
ishments printed  in  journals  like  The  Author, 
is  based  not  on  a  matter  of  detail  but  on  a  ques- 
tion of  principle.  According  to  a  contention 
frequently  raised  on  the  part  of  authors,  there 
is  no  equity  in  planning  to  divide  equally  be- 
tween the  author  and  the  publisher  the  net  pro- 
ceeds secured  from  the  book.  The  publisher 
ought,  it  is  claimed,  to  be  considered  merely 
in  the  light  of  a  selling  agent,  and  on  this 
basis  he  should  be  satisfied  to  receive  for  his 
services  a  simple  commission  on  the  sales, 
a  commission  calculated  at  some  such  rate,  for 
instance,  as  ten  per  cent.  Those  who  main- 
tain the  proposition  that  such  an  arrangement 
would  present  an  equitable  division  based 
upon  the  actual  relative  value  of  the  contribu- 
tions of  the  two  parties  to  the  agreement, 
would  find  it  difficult  to  secure  in  any  other 
class  of  business  undertakings  an  example  or 
a  precedent  for  a  similar  procedure.  When 
an  author  has  contributed  to  a  publishing  un- 
dertaking not  only  the  literary  production  but 
also  the  capital  required  to  put  his  book  into 
print  and  into  the  market,  and  when,  as  owner 
of  the  plates  and  the  editions  as  well  as  of  his 
copyright,  he  is  himself  prepared  to  assume 
the  loss  on  the  undertaking  in  case  the  receipts 
may  not  equal  the  expenditures,  it  is  in  order 
to  make  the  compensation  for  the  publisher 
that  of  a  selling  agent  (this  class  of  arrangement 


pubUsbfna  Hrranaements 


69 


is  considered  under  Section  II.).  The  entire 
profits,  less  the  amount  of  such  selling  com- 
missions as  may  be  fixed  upon  for  the  pub- 
lisher, belong  properly  enough,  under  such  an 
arrangement,  to  the  author.  In  estimating  in 
these  cases  the  proper  rate  of  such  commission 
it  is,  however,  in  order  to  take  into  account 
not  only  the  actual  services  of  the  publisher  as 
a  selling  agent,  but  also  the  value  (commercial 
and  literary)  attaching  to  the  imprint  of  his 
House,  and  the  value  also  of  the  connections 
of  the  House  with  the  trade  in  its  home  coun- 
try and  with  the  book  markets  of  the  world. 
It  might  easily  be  the  case  that,  with  a  proper 
consideration  of  these  several  factors  in  the 
problem,  an  author  would  find  it  to  his  ad- 
vantage to  concede  a  larger  selling  commis- 
sion to  a  House  with  an  imprint  which  carried 
literary  weight  and  with  connections  which 
reached  wide  markets,  than  to  some  other 
concern,  which  was  personally  equally  worthy 
of  trust,  but  whose  repute  and  connections 
had  still  to  be  established. 

There  is  the  further  consideration  that,  if  in 
the  judgment  of  the  publisher  the  book  is 
likely  to  secure  but  an  inconsiderable  sale  (on 
the  strength  of  which  judgment  he  has  thought 
any  investment  on  his  part  undesirable),  the 
amount  of  the  commissions  to  be  secured 
from  the  copies  sold  might  easily  prove  too 
small  to  make  an  adequate  offset  for  the  time 


Value 

of 
Imprints 

an& 
Connect* 

ions 


70 


autbors  ant)  publisbers 


IPalue 

of 
1mprint0 

an^ 
Connects 

ions 


and  attention  the  publication  would  require  at 
his  hands.  A  commission  of  ten  or  fifteen 
cents,  for  instance,  on  two  or  three  hundred 
copies  of  a  volume  selling  at  a  dollar  would 
produce  for  the  publisher,  as  compensation 
for  the  use  of  his  imprint,  his  catalogues,  and 
his  publishing  machinery,  an  amount  of  from 
twenty  to  thirty  dollars.  If,  according  to  his 
calculation,  the  undertaking  is  not  likely  to 
produce  for  the  publishing  office  a  larger  net 
return  than  that  above  indicated,  it  would  be 
for  most  publishers  an  unprofitable  and  there- 
fore undesirable  business  venture,  even  though 
it  might  possess  creditable  literary  quality  and 
even  though  also  the  entire  cost  of  its  product- 
ion had  been  met  by  the  author. 

With  reference  to  the  theory  previously  re- 
ferred to,  that  the  publisher's  work  should  be 
done  for  a  small  selling  commission  even  in 
the  cases  in  which  the  capital  has  been  sup- 
plied by  himself  and  the  risk  of  loss  of  that 
capital  or  of  some  portion  of  it  has  been  as- 
sumed by  him,  I  can  only  say  that  it  would  not 
be  easy  to  find,  either  for  publishing  or  for  any 
other  class  of  manufacturing  and  distributing 
business,  merchants  who  would  be  willing  to 
invest  capital  and  skilled  labor  on  any  such 
basis. 

Whatever  forms  of  publishing  arrangements 
may  be  arrived  at  as  most  equitably  meeting 
the  just  requirements  of  the  authors,  it  is  of 


publisbing  arranaemcnts  71 


course  essential  that  there  shall  be  sufficient  fn^uce■ 
inducement  to  tempt  capital  into  the  publish-  '"JJJ* 
ing  business  and  to  retain  it  there  unimpaired  pubitsb. 
and  with  a  fair  prospect  of  earning  returns  for  Q^^it^i 
its  owners.  In  any  calculation  on  the  part 
of  one  contemplating  an  investment  in  the 
business  of  publishing,  a  long  series  of  factors 
must  be  taken  into  account  in  the  calculation, 
such  as,  the  amount  of  moneys  required  and 
the  time  during  which  these  must  remain 
unproductive ;  the  risk  or  percentage  of 
losses,  based  upon  the  averaged  returns  from 
publishing  undertakings  of  previous  years; 
the  extent  of  the  personal  labor  and  direct 
supervision  necessitated  by  the  nature  of  the 
business  as  compared  with  vocations  which 
can  be  so  organized  as  to  run  almost  automatic- 
ally. To  these  should  be  added  the  risk  (one 
might  say  the  certainty)  that  in  connection 
with  the  special  character  of  the  goods  dealt  in 
and  on  the  ground  of  the  special  characteristics 
of  the  literary  producers  who  will  be  his  clients, 
he  will  have  to  devote  a  larger  proportion  of 
time  to  unremunerative  correspondence  and 
interviews  than  would  as  a  rule  be  called  for 
in  other  classes  of  business  or  in  professional 
occupations. 

If,  after  giving  due  consideration  to  these 
several  factors,  a  man  who  may  be  thinking 
of  investing  his  capital  and  himself  in  a 
publishing  business,  decide  that  the  prospect 


72 


Hutbors  ant)  ipubUsbers 


mente 

lor 
publieba 

ing 
Capital 


of  commercial  returns  and  of  a  satisfactory 
business  experience  would  on  the  whole  be 
more  favorable  with  pork  or  with  cottons  or 
with  drugs,  the  literary  interest  will  lose  the 
advantage  of  the  use  of  such  capital  and  of  the 
services  of  such  individual.  Any  widespread 
•  conviction  among  business  men  that,  in  con- 
nection with  the  peculiar  difficulties  pertaining 
to  the  publishing  business  and  the  lack  of  an 
assured  foundation  for  returns,  it  was  on  the 
whole  an  undesirable  channel  for  investment, 
would  have  a  disadvantageous  influence  on 
the  interests  of  literary  producers.  The  old 
economic  truism  would  come  into  force: 
"When  two  publishers  are  seeking  one  au- 
thor, the  proportion  of  the  proceeds  offered 
to  the  author,  goes  up.  When  two  literary 
workers  are  seeking  one  publisher,  the  com- 
pensation for  literary  labor  [the  author's  share 
in  the  net  return]  goes  down."  In  like  man- 
ner, if  through  losses,  or  withdrawal  of  capi- 
tal, or  lack  of  inducement  the  amount  of 
publishing  capital  available  for  the  production 
of  books  should  be  decreased,  the  facilities  of 
literary  producers  and  the  prospects  of  returns 
for  their  labors  must  be  proportionately  di- 
minished. It  is  therefore  decidedly  important 
for  the  interests  of  authors  that  the  number  of 
intelligent  publishers  with  capital  available  for 
the  production  of  books  shall  rtot  be  materially 
lessened,  or  certainly  at  least  that  the  amount 


publfsbina  Hrrangements 


73 


of  such  capital  shall  not  be  decreased.  A 
Ruskin  may,  occasionally,  secure  an  effective 
presentation  of  his  books  to  the  public  through 
the  employment  of  a  selling  agent.  Such  a 
case  is,  however,  in  more  ways  than  one  ex- 
ceptional, and  even  with  Ruskin's  books  the 
experiment  was  not  made  until  after,  during 
a  term  of  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century,  they 
had  been  effectively  presented  to  the  book- 
buying  public  associated  with  one  of  the  most 
dignified  and  influential  publishing  imprints 
in  Great  Britain.  The  experience  of  literary 
workers  since  the  beginning  of  printing  has 
given  evidence  that  the  production  of  books 
in  a  satisfactory  manner,  their  effective  distri- 
bution in  the  markets  of  the  world,  and  the 
assurance  of  a  compensation  to  their  writers 
proportioned  to  the  extent  of  their  sale,  call 
for  something  more  than  a  mere  selling  agent. 
The  service  is  required  of  a  publisher  who 
can  be  depended  upon  to  supply,  in  addition 
to  the  use  of  his  capital,  and  of  his  imprint 
and  connections  (factors  not  to  be  created  in  a 
day),  skilled  professional  co-operation.  Serv- 
ice of  this  kind  must  be  paid  for,  and,  as  with 
professional  work  generally,  it  may  easily 
prove  that  the  service  which  is  offered  at  the 
lowest  rate,  and  which  is  nominally  the  cheap- 
est, proves  in  the  end  by  no  means  the  most 
profitable  for  the  clients. 
The  several  forms  of  publishing  arrange- 


Value 

ot 

publteba 

ex'e 
Service 


74 


Hutbots  anC)  publisbets 


pnbli»be^ 
"fottbe 
Butbor  '6 
Bccount " 


merits  specified  under  the  above  class  are 
made  to  cover  a  specific  term  of  years.  This 
term  is  sometimes  for  the  full  period  of  the 
copyright,  twenty-eight  years,  but  is  more 
frequently  for  a  shorter  period,  ten,  five,  or 
three  years.  At  the  expiration  of  such  term, 
if  the  author  and  publisher  fail  to  agree  upon 
a  renewal  of  the  arrangement,  the  former  can 
either  himself  purchase  the  plates  and  the  re- 
maining stock,  or  can  arrange  with  some  other 
publisher  to  make  the  purchase.  The  selling 
value  of  the  plates  and  copies  can  be  arrived 
at  by  appraisal. 

Class  II. — Books  Published  "  For  the  Ac- 
count OF  THE  Author,"  i.  e.,  at  the 
Author's  Risk  and  Expense,  or  in  which 
HE  Assumes  a  Portion  of  the  Investment. 


a. — The  author  bears  the  entire  expense. 

The  author  assumes  the  entire  risk  and  ex- 
pense for  the  production  of  the  work,  and  he 
remains  the  owner  not  only  of  the  copyright, 
but  also  of  the  copies  printed,  of  the  plates,  if 
any  plates  are  made,  and  of  any  illustrations 
connected  with  these  plates.  The  books  are 
sold  "for  the  account  of  the  author,"  that  is, 
the  net  returns  from  the  sales,  less  a  selling 
commission  for  the  publisher,  go  to  the  author. 
The  arrangement  is  the  converse  of  the  royal- 
ty system, — the  publisher,  in  place  of  paying 


publisbing  Hrranaements 


75 


a  royalty  on  the  sale  of  books  owned  by  him- 
self, receives  a  royalty  (or  commission)  on  the 
sale  of  books  which  are  the  property  of  the 
author. 

The  first  step  in  such  an  arrangement,  after 
the  author  has  decided  that  the  imprint  of  the 
publisher  will  meet  his  requirements,  and  the 
publisher  has,  on  his  part,  expressed  his  will- 
ingness to  associate  his  imprint  with  the  work, 
is  the  preparation  of  estimates  showing  the  cost 
of  printing  the  book  in  the  style  selected. 

When  the  author  has  accepted  the  publish- 
er's estimate,  it  is  customary  for  him  to  ad- 
vance one  half  of  the  amount  calculated  as  the 
cost  of  the  first  edition,  the  remaining  half  be- 
ing payable  when  the  printing  is  completed 
and  the  book  is  ready  for  publication.  The 
electrotype  plates  and  the  edition  printed  are 
then  the  property  of  the  author,  the  books 
being  consigned  to  the  publisher  for  sale. 

Under  such  an  arrangement,  it  is  customary 
for  the  publishers  to  render  returns  to  the  au- 
thor for  the  copies  sold,  at  ten  per  cent,  less 
than  the  price  received  by  them  from  the 
wholesale  dealers,  this  percentage  being  re- 
served as  their  publishing  commission. 

If  a  book  is  published  at  a  dollar  and  is  sold 
to  the  wholesale  (distributing)  dealers  at  a 
discount  of  forty  per  cent,  the  publisher  will 
receive  from  the  dealers  sixty  cents  per  copy, 
or  $600  per  1000  copies.     He  will  pay  to  the 


sooits 

publtsbed 

♦'fortb« 

Butboc'0 

Bcconnt " 


76 


autbors  an&  publisbers 


■net 

ptocee^0 

to 
Butbors 

arib 
publisbers 


author  fifty  cents  per  copy,  or  $500  per  1000 
copies,  reserving  as  his  publishing  commission 
ten  cents  per  copy,  or  $100  per  1000  copies. 
The  author's  profit  is  the  difference  between 
the  $500  he  receives  and  the  cost  of  manufac- 
turing his  thousand  copies  plus  the  expend- 
iture for  advertising.  The  manufacturing 
outlay  will,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  be  con- 
siderably less  for  a  second  lot  of  1000  copies 
and  for  subsequent  supplies,  than  for  the  first 
edition,  as  with  this  latter  must  be  included 
the  cost  of  the  composition,  the  electrotyping, 
the  illustrations,  etc. 

Such  further  editions  are  printed  as  the 
demand  may  justify  and  as  the  author  may 
order.  As  a  rule,  no  further  payment  for 
these  is  required  from  the  author,  as,  in  the 
event  of  the  first  edition  having  been  disposed 
of,  and  the  accounts  for  it  not  having  been 
closed,  the  publisher  will  have  in  his  hands 
more  than  sufficient  proceeds  from  its  sale  tp 
provide  for  the  cost  of  further  supplies. 

For  books  of  a  special  character  for  which 
only  a  limited  circulation  can  be  expected 
(which  class  of  books  is  usually  printed  in 
limited  "letter-press"  editions),  it  is  custom- 
ary to  restrict  the  discount  given  to  dealers. 
On  this  class  of  books,  therefore,  the  author 
may  arrange  to  secure,  in  place  of  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  retail  price,  sixty  per  cent,  or  sixty- 
five  per  cent,  of  such  price. 


publisbing  Hrranacments 


77 


When  a  book  is,  under  this  method,  pub- 
lished "for  the  account  of  the  author,"  the 
outlays  for  advertising,  circulars,  etc.,  are 
debited  to  the  author,  and  the  amount  of  these 
is  deducted  from  the  payments  made  to  the 
author  from  the  sales.  The  author  should, 
however,  insist  that  no  such  outlays  should 
be  incurred  for  his  account  excepting  under 
specific  instructions  given  by  himself.  The 
cost  of  the  advertising  done  in  the  catalogues 
and  quarterly  lists  of  the  publisher  and  in  any 
periodicals  owned  and  published  by  the  pub- 
lisher, should  be  assumed  as  belonging  to  the 
publisher's  portion  of  the  expense. 

A  form  of  "instructions  to  publishers"  is 
given  to  the  author  for  his  signature,  and  in 
such  form  provision  is  made  for  the  author's 
decision  concerning  such  details  as  the  selling 
price  of  the  book,  the  amount  to  be  expended 
for  preliminary  and  for  supplementary  adver- 
tising, the  number  of  copies  to  be  distributed  to 
the  Press,  the  amount  of  insurance  to  be  carried 
on  the  plates  and  on  the  editions,  etc.  With 
this  form  of  instructions  duly  filled  out,  the 
author  will  usually  also  place  in  the  hands  of 
the  publishers  the  list  of  copies  which  are  to 
be  sent  to  his  correspondents  "with  the  com- 
pliments of  the  author."  The  number  of 
copies  so  distributed,  together  with  the  num- 
ber of  copies  delivered  to  the  Press  for  review, 
and  of  those  delivered  to  the  author  himself. 


publtobfng 


78 


Hutbors  m\b  publisbers 


Hutbors' 

Ventures 

in  first 


will  be  deducted  from  the  copies  for  which 
the  publishers  will  render  account  to  the 
author. 

A  number  of  the  suggestions  concerning 
publishing  details  under  the  heading  of  the 
half-profit  system  will  of  course  be  equally 
applicable  to  the  method  of  publishing  the 
book  "for  the  account  of  the  author,"  and 
also  to  the  third  general  division  of  publishing 
arrangements  specified  in  the  following  sec- 
tion. 

This  method  of  publishing  "for  the  account 
of  the  author  "  is  utilized  chiefly  for  works  of 
a  special  character  which  possess  scientific 
value  or  literary  interest,  and  with  which  the 
publisher  is  therefore  ready  to  associate  his 
imprint,  but  concerning  the  extent  of  the 
probable  demand  for  which  he  finds  reason  to 
be  doubtful.  It  is  also  frequent  in  the  cases 
of  volumes  of  poems,  and  particularly  of  first 
publications  by  authors  whose  names  do  not 
yet  possess  any  assured  market  value.  It  is 
possible  enough  of  course  for  the  publisher's 
judgment  to  be  in  fault  in  regard  to  the  prob- 
able commercial  value  of  first  books,  and  it 
has  occurred  more  than  once  that  "authors' 
books"  have  secured  a  more  remunerative 
sale  than  others  of  the  popularity  of  which 
the  publishers  were  very  confident. 

The  history  of  literature  also  presents  many 
instances  of  authors  whose  books  afterward 


pubUsbfng  Hrranaements  79 


became  famous  and  profitable,  being  obliged  sivtaion 
to  advance  the  cost  of  printing  their  first  or  ^nvLu 
their  earlier  productions.  Washington  Irving  ment 
published  (in  London)  at  his  own  expense 
the  first  edition  of  The  Sketch-Book,  which  had 
been  declined  by  Murray  and  by  several  other 
of  the  leading  London  publishers.  The  second 
edition  was  issued  by  Murray  (Byron's  Mur- 
ray), whose  friendship  and  co-operation  proved 
later  very  valuable  for  the  young  American. 
As  the  ownership  of  the  editions  and  of  the 
plates  rests  with  the  author,  the  decision  con- 
cerning the  insurance  of  the  property  must  be 
arrived  at  by  him.  It  is  customary  for  the 
details  of  the  insurance  to  be  taken  care  of 
by  the  publisher  (under  written  instructions 
from  the  author),  the  cost  of  the  premiums 
being  debited  to  the  account  of  the  author. 

b. — Author's  ownership  of  plates  and  of 
copyright. 

Under  the  second  form  of  this  general  class 
of  publishing  arrangements,  the  risk  and  the 
original  investment  are  divided  between  the 
author  and  the  publisher.  The  most  common 
method  for  such  division  is  for  the  author  to  pay 
the  cost  of  the  type-setting  and  electrotyping 
(including  that  of  any  illustrations  that  may  be 
planned  for) ;  and  to  receive,  in  addition  to  the 
royalty  for  his  copyright,  a  further  royalty  for 
the  use  of  his  plates.     The  author  remains  the 


8o  Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 

Biviston  owner  of  the  plates  as  well  as  of  the  copy- 
inw»t-  right,  and  he  is,  of  course,  in  a  position  at  the 
»"«"*  expiration  of  the  term  of  agreement,  if  he  has 
any  ground  for  dissatisfaction,  to  take  the  pub- 
lication of  his  book  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
original  publisher  and  to  transfer  the  plates  and 
the  right  of  publication  to  some  other  House. 
Under  this  form  of  arrangement,  the  outlay 
of  the  author  is  limited  to  the  first  edition, 
unless  for  later  editions  he  makes  changes  in 
or  additions  to  the  plates.  The  outlay  of  the 
publisher  is  repeated  for  each  edition  printed, 
this  outlay  comprising  the  cost  of  manufactur- 
ing the  editions  from  the  author's  plates,  and 
that  of  the  advertising,  Press  copies,  catalogu- 
ing, damaged  copies,  etc. 

The  ownership  of  the  editions  printed  of 
the  book  rests  under  this  arrangement  with 
the  publishers  and,  provided  that  they  fulfil 
their  obligation  of  keeping  the  book  in  the 
market  as  to  supply  such  demand  as  may  be 
sufficient  to  cover  the  cost  of  subsequent  edi- 
tions, the  decision  as  to  the  number  of  copies 
to  be  printed  and  as  to  the  time  of  printing 
these  later  editions  should  rest  with  the  pub- 
lishers. The  responsibility  for  the  protection 
by  insurance  of  the  plates  of  the  book  rests 
with  the  author  who  is  the  owner  of  these 
plates.  He  may  either  himself  take  out  the 
insurance  policy  or  (as  is  the  more  usual  rout- 
ine) he  may  instruct  the  publisher  so  to  do. 


publfsbina  Hrranaements 


8i 


The  publisher  is,  however,  not  responsible  for 
such  insurance  unless  he  has  received  written 
instructions  from  the  author  as  to  the  insur- 
ance valuation  that  is  to  be  placed  upon  the 
plates  and  as  to  debiting  the  author's  account 
with  the  cost  of  the  premium. 

There  are  certain  conveniences  in  retaining 
the  ownership  of  the  plates  of  a  book  which 
cause  many  authors  to  prefer  this  method. 
If  any  changes,  corrections,  or  additions  are 
considered  by  the  author  essential  or  desirable, 
before  the  printing  of  further  editions,  it  is 
much  easier  for  the  author  to  arrange  for  these 
to  his  satisfaction  if  he  be  tKe  owner  of  the 
plates  than  if  it  may  first  be  necessary  to  de- 
cide with  the  publisher  how  the  cost  of  such 
alterations  ought  to  be  divided.  It  is  also  a 
convenience  for  an  author  who,  at  the  close 
of  a  contract  with  one  publisher,  may  desire 
to  transfer  his  works  to  some  other  House,  to 
be  in  a  position  to  transfer  his  plates  at  the 
same  time,  instead  of  being  obliged  first  to 
arrange  for  the  purchase  of  these  and  possibly 
to  combat  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  their 
market  value.  In  the  event  of  a  publishing 
firm  becoming  bankrupt,  the  plates  of  the 
books  belonging  to  them  are  of  necessity  dis- 
posed of  to  the  highest  bidder,  and  an  author 
not  owning  his  plates  might  undergo  the  an- 
noyance of  seeing  his  books  transferred  to 
some  firm  which  he  would  never  with  his 


Butboc  '0 

®wnetsbip 

of 

plates 


82 


Hutbors  anC)  publisbers 


fftrst 


own  option  have  selected  as  his  publishers  ; 
and  finally,  an  author  who  owns  his  plates  as 
well  as  his  copyrights  may  feel  that  his  lit- 
erary property  is  more  fully  under  his  own 
control,  as  part  of  his  estate  to  devise  and  to 
bequeath  as  seems  best  to  him. 

^Publishing  Arrangements.  — Summary. 

For  a  book  which  is  a  first  production  of  its 
author,  the  name  of  the  writer  of  which  does 
not  as  yet  carry  weight  with  the  reading  pub- 
lic, and  which  does  not  impress  the  advisers 
of  the  publishers  as  likely  to  command  favor- 
able attention  or  a  remunerative  sale,  a  fre- 
quent publishing  arrangement  is,  as  stated, 
that  under  which  the  author  bears  either  the 
whole  or  a  part  of  the  investment  required. 
For  a  book  by  an  author  already  favorably 
known  and  for  which  a  circle  of  readers  may 
be  assumed  to  be  waiting,  the  most  usual 
publishing  arrangement,  at  least  in  the  United 
States,  is  that  under  which  the  author  receives 
a  royalty  on  the  copies  sold,  his  final  receipts 
being  in  this  manner  directly  proportioned  to 
the  success  of  his  work.  This  royalty  method 
is  that  in  most  general  use  on  the  Continent 
and  is  now  becoming  more  frequent  also  in 
Great  Britain. 

A  publisher  is  occasionally  tempted  to  under- 
take the  publication,  at  his  own  risk,  of  a  book 
which  is  the  first  work  of  its  author,  on  the 


publisbtno  arrangements  83 


ground  not  necessarily  that  the  book  itself  im-  fitet 
presses  him  as  a  production  of  high  literary  ^'^^' 
quality  or  as  likely  to  secure  for  itself  any 
large  measure  of  success,  but  because  as  a 
first  effort  it  gives  evidence  of  what  is  called 
"literary  promise."  The  advisers  of  the  pub- 
lisher impress  upon  him  the  opinion  that  the 
author  of  this  first  and  possibly  somewhat 
crude  or  unfinished  production  has  a  literary 
future  and  is  likely  to  produce  work  of  literary 
importance  and  of  assured  commercial  value. 
As  a  result  of  such  counsel  and  possibly  also 
with  a  personal  impression  in  the  same  di- 
rection, the  publisher  undertakes  the  task  of 
introducing  a  new  author  to  the  public.  If 
his  publishing  experience  covers  any  term  of 
years,  or  if  he  has  informed  himself  of  the  ex- 
perience of  older  members  of  the  trade,  he  will 
realize  that  the  chances  of  this  particular  au- 
thor being  accepted  by  the  current  generation 
or  finding  a  place  for  his  work  in  the  per- 
manent literature  of  the  country,  are  decidedly 
adverse.  Perhaps  one  out  of  ten,  or  possibly 
one  out  of  twenty,  of  these  first  productions 
may  really  prove  to  be  the  forerunner  of  litera- 
ture of  continued  value.  It  is  difficult,  however, 
altogether  to  repress  optimism,  even  in  a  pub- 
lishing office.  With  each  month's  ventures 
the  hope  returns  that  a  larger  proportion  of 
the  ducklings  may  turn  out  to  be  swans,  and 
the  publisher  is  brought  back  to  an  actual 


84 


Hutbors  anO  ipubltsbers 


aSoohs 
Uofletbec 


realization  of  the  real  percentage  of  literary 
"possibilities"  only  when,  at  the  time  of  his 
annual  inventory,  he  has  placed  before  him 
the  figures  showing  the  extent  of  the  stacks 
of  the  unsold  books  in  the  warehouse  and  the 
still  more  troublesome  figures  of  the  unfavor- 
able balance  sheet,  the  inevitable  consequence 
of  the  printing  of  books  that  the  public  has 
not  been  prepared  to  purchase. 

It  may  nevertheless  in  the  long  run  still 
prove  advantageous  to  expend  money  and  la- 
bor upon  unsuccessful  experiments  if  once  or 
twice,  at  least,  in  the  course  of  the  year  the 
publisher  may  be  fortunate  enough  to  come 
into  relations  with  a  new  author  for  whose 
works  a  large  and  continued  reading  public 
can  be  found.  There  is  always  a  hope  of  a 
Charlotte  Bronte,  a  Mrs.  Stowe,  or  a  Du  Mau- 
rier.  Under  the  older  methods  of  publishing, 
the  author  whose  first  book  had  been  taken 
up  by  a  publisher  at  his  own  risk  and  ex- 
pense, recognized  that  there  was  a  certain 
obligation  to  be  fulfilled.  When  the  second 
book  was  completed,  which  represents,  as  a 
rule,  more  mature  and  more  effective  work, 
and  which  is  much  more  likely  to  possess 
literary  and  commercial  value,  such  second 
production  was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  brought 
to  the  publisher  who  had  risked  money  (and 
who  frequently  had  incurred  loss)  on  the 
earlier  work.     Apart  also  from  any  feeling  of 


publisbfng  Hrrangements 


85 


obligation,  an  author  might  very  properly  be 
advised  by  his  business  counsellors  that  there 
was  a  direct  business  advantage  to  himself  in 
placing  his  second  book  under  the  manage- 
ment of  the  publisher  who  had  issued  the 
first.  If  the  second  book  secured  favorable 
reviews  and  appreciation  at  the  hands  of  the 
buyers,  fresh  attention  would  be  drawn  to  the 
first  volume  and  renewed  sale  could,  as  a  rule, 
be  secured  for  this.  The  two  books  would  be 
chronicled  together  in  the  same  catalogues 
and  in  the  same  advertisements,  while  each 
volume  would  carry  in  its  own  advertising 
pages  a  reference  to  the  other.  The  books 
would  also  be  offered  together  by  the  travel- 
ling salesmen  to  the  booksellers  throughout 
the  country,  and  the  dealer  purchasing  sup- 
plies of  the  new  work  could,  as  a  rule,  be  in- 
duced to  include  in  his  order  copies  of  the 
earlier  book. 

The  same  considerations  which  brought 
about  a  business  advantage  in  associating  two 
books  together  in  the  same  publishing  list  (an 
advantage  in  which  an  author  who  retained 
the  ownership  of  his  copyright  would  of 
course  be  a  sharer)  obtains  in  increasing  meas- 
ure for  longer  series  of  works  by  the  same 
writer.  Each  new  book  serves  to  advertise 
and  to  bring  renewed  attention  to  the  earlier 
works.  The  reviewers  will  very  frequently, 
in  commending  a  book  which  gives  evidence 


Keepina 

3BOOil8 

Uogetbec 


86 


Hutbors  ant)  publfsbers 


fteepina 

XOOI10 

Uogetbec 


of  literary  and  intellectual  development,  make 
reference  to  the  series  of  the  writer's  earlier 
writings.  The  set  comes  into  increasing  sale 
through  what  may  be  called  the  cumulative 
momentum  of  publishing  effort.  The  vol- 
umes come  to  be  catalogued  as  "works"  or 
"writings,"  and  are  placed  together  in  a  box, 
a  detail  which  in  the  minds  of  booksellers  and 
of  library  committees  helps  to  confirm  the  im- 
pression that  they  have  been  accepted  as 
"standard  literature."  Librarians  and  book- 
buyers  generally  have  also  a  decided  prefer- 
ence for  books  that  can  be  secured  in  a  uniform 
style  of  typography  and  of  binding.  There  is 
in  fact  a  very  considerable  measure  of  im- 
patience on  the  part  of  readers  with  an  author 
whose  publishing  arrangements  have  scattered 
his  different  works  so  that  these  are  issued  in 
a  variety  of  sizes,  forms,  and  styles,  of  which 
no  uniform  set  is  obtainable  even  at  an  in- 
creased price.  The  annoyance  is  not  a  mere 
empty  sentiment,  but  interferes  very  directly 
with  continued  sales. 

When  a  publisher  has  in  his  hands  a  group 
of  books  by  an  author  who  is  from  year  to 
year  making  additions  to  the  set,  the  publisher 
finds  it  good  business  to  do  all  that  is  practi- 
cable to  emphasize  the  importance  of  the  au- 
thor himself  apart  from  the  value  of  any  single 
volume.  The  set  of  books  constitutes  a  liter- 
ary property,  in  the  management  and  in  the 


publisbing  Hrranaements 


87 


extension  of  the  value  of  which  authors  and 
publishers  are  jointly  interested. 

Many  examples  could  be  presented  from  the 
literary  history  of  the  past  twenty-five  years 
of  authors  whose  books  have,  as  first  published, 
attracted  distinctive  attention  and  have  come 
into  immediate  sale.  Because,  however,  these 
books  have  been  scattered  on  the  lists  of  a 
number  of  publishers,  no  one  concern  has 
been  interested  in  pushing  the  sale  of  the 
entire  series  or  in  keeping  the  name  of  the 
author  before  the  public.  A  publisher  of  one 
book  has  felt  that  any  general  advertising  that 
he  might  do  concerning  the  author  would 
accrue  in  part  at  least  to  the  advantage  of  his 
competitors.  The  salesmen  have  had  no  in- 
structions to  bring  to  the  attention  of  buyers 
any  volumes  other  than  the  one  issued  by 
their  own  firm.  There  is  the  lack  of  cumula- 
tive publishing  effort,  a  lack  which  in  the  end 
works  adversely  to  the  continued  sale  of  the 
whole  series  of  books.  Books  of  smaller 
individual  importance  and  of  less  literary 
value  have  at  the  end  of  a  given  term  of  years 
shown  better  continuous  results  because  they 
have  been  kept  under  one  publishing  manage- 
ment. 

The  immediate  advantage  presented  by  any 
competing  offers  for  the  second  book  or  the 
later  books  of  an  author  must  be  very  con- 
siderable indeed  to  offset  the  material  detri- 


fteeping 

3Booi<s 

Uo^etber 


88 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


Keeping 

3Booii« 

Uosetber 


ment  caused  to  an  author's  property  interests 
and  to  the  commercial  value  of  his  productions 
by  publishing  arrangements  which  scatter  his 
books  among  half  a  dozen  publishers,  and 
which  render  it  impossible  for  the  buyer  to 
purchase  his  writings  in  a  uniform  set. 

There  is  the  further  consideration  that, 
unless  publishers  can  feel  some  degree  of 
assurance  in  accepting  first  books,  which  are, 
as  a  rule,  not  finished  productions  and  a  very 
large  proportion  of  which  will  in  any  case 
produce  losses,  that  they  are  establishing  re- 
lations with  an  author  whose  future  work  is 
likely  to  possess  importance,  they  must  of 
necessity  be  less  hopeful  and  less  hospitable 
in  giving  consideration  to  the  volumes  first 
offered.  It  would  be  a  serious  disadvantage 
to  young  writers  if  there  should  be  any 
material  diminution  of  readiness  on  the  part 
of  the  publishers  to  give  them  an  opportunity 
of  getting  a  hearing  before  the  public.  It 
would  in  fact  often  be  not  merely  equitable 
for  both  parties  but  good  business  for  the 
author,  in  securing  a  publishing  arrangement 
for  his  first  book,  to  agree  to  give  to  the 
publisher  the  refusal  of  his  second.  From  the 
business  point  of  view,  the  publisher  on  his 
part  ought  not  to  incur  speculative  expenditure 
in  bringing  a  new  author  before  the  public 
unless  he  can  have  some  assurance  that  the 
relation  will  continue  beyond  the  first  volume. 


pttblisbing  Hrranaements 


89 


This  does  not  mean  that  a  young  author  ought 
to  be  asked  to  bind  himself  under  some  hard 
and  fast  contract  to  give  to  one  publisher 
the  control  of  any  long  series  of  future 
productions.  He  ought  to  retain  freedom  of 
action  so  that  when  his  market  value  has,  to 
some  extent  at  least,  been  established  he  may 
be  in  position  to  secure  the  full  advantage  of 
this  value,  whether  with  his  original  publisher 
or  with  some  competing  Houses  who  are 
prepared  to  offer  more  satisfactory  arrange- 
ments. There  should,  however,  as  said,  be 
some  recognition  of  the  service  originally 
rendered,  and,  unless  there  be  some  very 
definite  grounds  for  complaint  or  cause  for 
dissatisfaction,  the  management  of  the  first 
publisher  will,  on  the  grounds  specified,  be 
most  likely  to  prove  serviceable  and  profitable 
for  the  succeeding  undertaking.  This  point 
will  be  touched  upon  further  in  the  section  on 
the  employment  of  a  literary  agent. 

Class  III. — Publishing  Arrangements  for  Pro- 
ductions First  Printed  in  Periodicals 
or  Cyclopaedias. 

The  increasing  importance  of  the  receipts 
secured  by  writers  (and  especially  by  success- 
ful writers  of  fiction)  from  the  publication  of 
their  productions  in  periodicals,  makes  neces- 
sary a  word  of  reference  to  this  class  of 
publishing  arrangements.     1  do  not  propose, 


Brticles 

in 
periobfcals 


90 


Hutbora  ant>  ipublisbers 


Hrticles 

in 

pecio^icato 


however,  to  give  consideration  to  the  relations 
of  authors  with  the  editors  of  the  magazines  or 
journals  in  which  their  articles  are  first  printed. 
This  matter  constitutes  a  subject  by  itself,  or 
(as  Kipling  would  say)  another  story.  I  wish 
simply  to  point  out  the  necessity  for  certain 
precautions  on  the  part  of  writers  who  have 
in  plan  the  later  publication  in  book  form  of 
papers  which  first  come  into  print  in  the 
pages  of  a  periodical. 

In  the  first  place,  the  author  should  assure 
himself  that  the  arrangement  entered  into  by 
him  with  the  publisher  or  manager  of  the 
periodical  leaves  with  himself  the  ownership 
of  the  copyright  of  his  production  and  the  un- 
questioned control  of  all  rights  for  its  republi- 
cation in  book  form.  If,  as  is  usually  the 
case,  it  is  the  intention  of  the  author  to  sell  to 
the  periodical  simply  the  right  to  the  single 
publication  in  its  pages,  and  to  reserve  all 
further  publishing  rights,  such  understanding 
should  be  clearly  specified  in  the  agreement, 
or  letters  of  arrangement,  or  in  the  receipt 
given  by  the  author  for  the  payments  made. 
In  the  earlier  days  of  magazines,  the  practice 
was  general  for  the  publisher  to  purchase  the 
copyright  and  all  publishing  rights  of  the 
papers  accepted  by  him.  In  the  absence  of 
any  specific  agreement  or  written  reserva- 
tion to  the  contrary,  it  would,  I  think,  a  cen- 
tury or  half  a  century  ago,  have  been  assumed 


IPubllsbing  arrangements 


91 


that  the  payment  made  for  an  article  by  the 
magazine  publisher,  transferred  to  him  the 
full  ownership  and  control  of  such  article. 

It  is  my  understanding  that  THitnam's 
Monthly,  which  began  publication  in  1852  and 
which  was  the  first  American  monthly  de- 
voted exclusively  to  the  contributions  of 
American  writers,  was  also  the  first  American 
periodical  the  publisher  of  which  specified  in 
the  receipts  presented  to  authors  for  their 
signature  that  the  copyright  and  publishing 
rights  in  their  contributions  remained  vested 
in  the  author.  The  only  condition  connected 
with  the  arrangement  was  that  in  case  the 
material  were  later  to  be  issued  in  book  form, 
the  publisher  of  the  magazine  should  have  the 
first  refusal  of  such  book.  Even  this  condi- 
tion, there  was,  of  course,  no  difficulty  in 
waiving  in  the  cases  of  authors  who  had 
standing  arrangements  for  their  books  with 
other  Houses.  This  status  of  magazine  con- 
tributions, which  was  the  exception  in  1852, 
is  at  present  the  rule  with  all  the  leading 
magazines  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  and 
an  author  is  perfectly  safe  in  putting  his  signa- 
ture to  the  form  of  receipt  in  use  with  these 
magazines,  as  he  is,  under  the  agreement  ex- 
pressed in  such  receipts,  left  in  full  control  of 
the  copyrights  and  book-rights  of  his  material. 

In  the  case  of  the  less  known  magazines,  or 
of  newspapers,  it  is,  however,  wise  for  the 


pcecebent 
Set  be 
"Put- 
nam's 

Aontblie " 


92 


autbors  an&  publisbers 


XCbe 
purcba6e 

of 
Copcrigbt 

perfo^ia 
cals 


author  to  insist  upon  a  specific  arrangement 
which  shall  make  quite  clear  his  rights  to  the 
future  control  of  his  contribution.  The  pub- 
lishers of  magazines  usually  make  it  a  condi- 
tion in  purchasing  an  article,  that  it  shall  not 
be  reprinted  within  a  specific  time  after  its 
publication  in  the  magazine.  Such  a  condi- 
tion is  equitable  enough,  but  the  author  who 
has  further  publishing  plans  for  his  material, 
should  assure  himself  that  these  plans  are  not 
going  to  be  interfered  with  or  seriously  ham- 
pered by  his  arrangement  with  the  magazine. 
I  have  a  case  in  mind  in  which  an  article  was 
accepted  and  paid  for  by  a  leading  magazine, 
but  the  publication  of  which  was,  on  one 
ground  or  another,  delayed  for  a  year  or  more. 
The  paper  formed  one  of  a  series  for  the  pub- 
lication of  which  in  book-form  the  author  had 
made  a  satisfactory  arrangement.  Under  his 
agreement  with  the  magazine,  he  was,  how- 
ever, stopped  from  using  the  initial  paper  un- 
til two  months  after  its  first  publication.  The 
postponement  for  a  year  or  more  of  the  publi- 
cation of  his  book  was  for  him  a  very  serious 
matter,  and  in  fact  came  near  to  bringing 
about  a  cancellation  of  the  arrangement  he 
had  secured  for  the  book  publication.  He 
submitted  a  suggestion  for  the  repurchase  of 
his  paper  from  the  magazine,  but  this  the 
magazine  publishers  declined  to  consider.  It  is 
evident  from  a  complication  of  this  kind,  that 


IPublisbina  Hrrangements 


93 


an  author  who  plans  his  material  for  publica- 
tion in  more  than  one  channel,  needs  to 
assure  himself  very  specifically  as  to  the 
conditions  of  each  of  his  several  publishing 
arrangements.  It  might  be  in  order  to  ar- 
range, for  instance,  with  the  magazine  pub- 
lishers that  if  the  article  were  not  published 
within  a  specified  term  of  months,  the  author 
should  reserve  the  right  of  repurchasing  it. 
In  the  case  of  arrangements  with  syndicates 
or  with  syndicating  agents  for  the  publication 
of  an  article  or  of  a  serial  in  a  number  of  peri- 
odicals (including  possibly  journals  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  and  in  the  British  colo- 
nies), there  is,  of  course,  a  still  greater  neces- 
sity for  the  author  to  assure  himself  that  his 
book-rights  have  been  properly  reserved  and 
that  the  serial  publication  will  be  made  in 
such  a  way  as  not  to  risk  the  forfeiture  of  his 
copyrights,  American,  British,  or  Colonial. 
The  failure  on  the  part  of  any  one  of  the  jour- 
nals supplied  by  the  syndicate  to  observe  all 
the  conditions  of  the  several  copyright  acts 
(such  as  simultaneous  publication,  the  print- 
ing with  each  instalment  of  a  correctly  worded 
copyright  notice,  the  deposit  of  copies,  etc.), 
may  bring  about  the  forfeiture  of  copyright 
protection  for  the  volume  and  involve  a  loss 
much  greater  than  the  gain  from  the  payments 
for  the  serial.  The  syndicate  agency  might,  I 
think,  very  properly  be  called  upon  to  guaran- 


S^nMcat* 

fng 

Bcrangca 

ments 


94 


Hutbors  ant>  publisbers 


Brticles 

in 
Ctcloptem 


tee  and  insure  the  proper  fulfilment  by  its 
customers  of  all  the  conditions  requisite  to 
secure  and  to  maintain  the  author's  copyrights, 
domestic  and  international. 

It  is  the  present  general  practice  for  the  pub- 
lishers to  purchase  the  copyright  and  the  full 
publishing  rights  of  the  articles  contributed  to 
encyclopaedias.  Such  articles  have,  in  fact, 
with  rare  exceptions,  been  "  written  to  order  " 
at  the  instance  or  under  the  direction  of  the 
editor  of  the  work.  With  publications  pos- 
sessing the  literary  and  the  commercial  im- 
portance attaching  to  encyclopaedias  of  the 
first  class,  the  agreements  with  the  contribut- 
ors, and  the  receipts  given  by  these  for  the 
moneys  paid,  will  unquestionably  state  spe- 
cifically the  ownership  of  the  copyright  and 
of  the  publishing  rights.  If  no  such  specifica- 
tion had  been  put  into  writing,  the  authorities 
would,  I  think,  decide  that,  according  to  the 
general  usage  in  the  case  of  undertakings  of 
this  kind,  the  copyright  and  full  control  of  an 
article  ordered  and  paid  for  by  the  publishers, 
would  be  vested  in  them,  and  that  in  the  ab- 
sence of  any  specific  agreement  or  restriction 
to  the  contrary,  the  publishers  would  be  at 
liberty,  in  addition  to  printing  the  article  in  the 
cyclopaedia,  to  re-issue  it  in  any  other  form  or 
association  that  might  seem  to  them  desir- 
able. 

In  the  case  of  works  like  the  great  British 


publisbina  Hrrangements 


95 


Dictionary  of  National  Biography,  the  articles 
in  which  possess  continued  literary  and  com- 
mercial value,  the  question  of  the  right  to  re- 
publish these  articles  is  one  of  no  little  import- 
ance. I  judge,  therefore,  that  a  contributor 
to  a  work  of  this  kind  who  is  not  willing  to 
lose  the  future  control  of  his  article,  or  to  per- 
mit it  to  be  used  in  any  other  form  or  associa- 
tion than  that  of  the  cyclopaedia  or  dictionary 
for  which  it  was  originally  prepared,  must  be 
careful  to  protect  himself  by  a  written  agree- 
ment or  reservation.  In  case  the  author  de- 
sires to  retain  in  his  own  hands  the  right 
to  reprint  his  article,  it  will  be  in  order  for 
the  publisher  of  the  cyclopaedia  to  fix  some 
term  of  months  or  of  years  within  which  such 
reprinting  must  not  be  done.  Contingencies 
may  arise  in  which  the  author  of  a  cyclopaedia 
article,  who  has  transferred  in  regular  routine 
the  copyright  and  publishing  rights,  may  still 
claim  to  be  entitled  to  some  voice  as  to  the 
future  disposition  and  association  of  his  paper. 
A  case  of  this  kind  occurred  recently,  the  de- 
cision in  which  has,  at  the  date  of  this  writ- 
ing, not  been  reached.  A,  who  in  1895  is  a 
scientific  writer  of  note  and  authority,  con- 
tributed, a  number  of  years  back,  when  his 
work  as  a  scientist  was  beginning,  an  article 
on  some  subject  of  scientific  research  to  a  cy- 
clopaedia which  was  then  in  course  of  publi- 
cation.    In  accepting  payment  for  his  article 


Ube 
Bictionars 

of 
Xiograpbc 


96 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


Vbe 

IRiflbtt 

of  a 

Contributa 

or  to  a 

Csclopiea 

Ma 


from  the  publisher  B,  A  understood  that  he 
had  parted  with  his  copyright  and  with  any 
right  himself  to  make  further  use  of  the  mate- 
rial. Publisher  B  fails,  and  the  cyclopaedia  for 
a  time  goes  out  of  the  market.  A  number  of 
years  later,  publisher  C  purchases  the  plates 
of  the  work,  and,  reprinting  it  with  a  few 
changes  and  additions,  advertises  it  as  if  it 
were  a  new  publication.  He  includes  in  his 
list  of  contributors  the  name  of  the  writer  A, 
a  name  which  now  possesses  both  scientific 
and  commercial  value.  The  cyclopaedia  is  in 
1895,  at  least  in  its  scientific  divisions,  seri- 
ously out  of  date  and  antiquated.  .The  articles 
as  originally  printed  did  not  bear  dates,  and  as 
the  title-page  of  the  re-issue  of  the  cyclopaedia 
bears  date  1895,  the  impression  is  given  to  the 
buying  public  that  the  writers  whose  names 
are  advertised  have  prepared  contributions 
of  recent  date  for  a  new  work.  A  contends 
that  such  an  impression  concerning  his  own 
article,  which  was  written  a  number  of  years 
back,  and  which  is  at  this  time  neither  com- 
plete nor  accurate,  is  calculated  to  do  injury  to 
his  scientific  standing  and  to  the  commercial 
value  of  his  future  writings.  He  demands 
that  his  article  be  cancelled  from  the  re-issue 
of  this  work,  and,  failing  the  cancellation,  that 
the  date  of  its  production  shall  be  placed 
against  the  article  itself  and  against  the  name 
of  its  writer  in  the  list  of  contributors. 


pttbUsbing  Hrranacments 


97 


Such  a  contention  seems  reasonable  and 
equitable,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether  the  author 
will  be  able  to  enforce  it  against  publisher  C, 
who  is  by  purchase  and  assignment  the  owner 
of  all  rights  in  the  material.  If  an  author  wishes 
to  protect  himself  against  a  contingency  of  this 
kind,  it  will  probably  be  necessary  for  him  to 
make  some  specific  reservation  or  agreement 
at  the  time  he  accepts  the  commission  for  the 
preparation  of  an  article  for  a  cyclopaedia. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  injury  complained 
of  in  the  case  cited  is  not  to  the  property 
rights  but  to  the  personal  rights  of  the  author. 
The  right  of  publication  does  not  carry  with 
it,  however,  the  author's  rights.  The  pur- 
chaser of  the  article  can  claim  control  only 
quoad  exercitium,  not  quoad  jus. 


Ube 

IRiabts 

of  a 

Contributa 

or  to  a 

Csclopsa 

bia 


98 


Butboc 


®l)Uoattons  unber  tbe  publisbing 
Hgreement. 

ubc  npHE  publishing  contract  contains,  in  addi- 
^ttona"  ■!•  ^^^"  ^^  ^^^  provisions  specifying  the 
of  tbe  obligations  assumed  by  the  publisher,  further 
provisions  constituting  obligations  on  the 
part  of  the  author.  He  agrees  to  complete 
certain  literary  work,  and  agrees,  either  spe- 
cifically or  by  implication,  that  such  work 
shall  be  up  to  a  certain  literary  standard  by 
which  his  previous  productions  have  been 
characterized,  and  which  the  publisher  who 
places  the  commission  in  his  hands  has  a  right 
to  expect.  The  author  agrees,  further,  that 
the  work  shall  be  completed  either  within  a 
certain  term,  the  date  of  which  is  specified  in 
the  contract,  or,  by  implication,  within  a  rea- 
sonable time.  It  is  further  understood  that 
the  "copy"  as  presented  by  the  author  for 
the  work  of  the  typesetters  shall  be  in  its 
finally  revised  and  completed  form,  and  shall 
be  sufficiently  legible  to  constitute  what  would 
be  known  in  the  printing  office  as  "  fair  copy." 


(Obligations 


99 


Finally,  the  author  agrees  to  read  the  proofs 
of  his  book  and  (as  a  rule)  to  prepare  the 
index. 

The  payments  or  royalties  which  the  pub- 
lisher is  to  pay  under  the  provisions  of  the 
agreement  are  given  in  consideration  of  the 
performance  by  the  author  in  good  faith  (and 
in  accordance  with  the  standard  of  literary 
quality  upon  which  his  own  literary  repute 
may  be  supposed  to  depend)  of  the  several 
obligations  set  forth  in  the  contract.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  direct  payments  to  be  made  by 
the  publisher  as  consideration  for  the  literary 
production,  or  for  the  use  of  such  production, 
the  publisher  has  agreed  to  provide  for  certain 
expenditures  in  manufacturing  the  book,  in 
advertising  it,  and  in  placing  it  and  keeping  it 
in  the  market.  Before  entering  upon  the  un- 
dertaking, he  has,  according  to  usual  routine, 
made  up  certain  calculations  showing  what  is 
the  total  of  the  outlay  to  be  provided  for,  and 
of  the  labor  that  will  be  required  from  himself 
and  from  his  assistants,  and  against  these 
items  he  estimates  (of  course,  at  the  best  but 
approximately)  what  returns  can  be  secured 
from  the  sales. 

If  he  did  not  believe,  with  the  figures  of  this 
calculation  before  him,  that  there  was  at  least 
a  fair  prospect  of  securing  from  the  sales  a 
sufficient  return  to  offset  the  amount  of  his 
outlays,  and  to  give  him,  above  this  amount. 


Ube 
pulta 
li0ber'0 
Calcu* 
lations 


lOO 


Hutbors  an&  publisbers 


Ube 

3o(nt 

fntecest 

(ntbe 

Sales 


enough  profit  to  repay  him  for  the  use  and  for 
the  risk  of  his  capital  and  for  his  own  personal 
service,  the  undertaking  would,  on  the  whole, 
seem  to  him  an  undesirable  venture,  and 
would  not  be  entered  upon.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  however  carefully  these  preliminary  cal- 
culations may  be  gone  through  with,  a  very 
large  proportion  of  publishing  undertakings 
do,  as  before  stated,  fail  to  secure  sufficient 
returns  to  cover  the  amount  of  the  actual  out- 
lay, irrespective  of  any  interest  for  the  use  of 
the  capital  or  of  any  compensation  for  the 
publisher's  services. 

As  before  explained,  in  the  cases  in  which 
the  author  has  to  receive  a  fixed  or  guaranteed 
payment  for  his  production,  his  interest  in  the 
result  of  the  sales  (whether  these  be  satisfac- 
tory or  the  reverse)  is  but  indirect.  Under 
the  royalty  arrangement  and  the  other  forms 
of  arrangements  in  which  his  compensation  is 
made  contingent  upon  or  proportioned  to  the 
sales,  his  business  interest  is  as  direct  as  that 
of  the  publisher  in  having  these  sales  sufficient 
to  return  the  outlay  together  with  a  substan- 
tial excess  in  the  shape  of  profits. 

I  want  to  point  out,  however,  that  the  pub- 
lishing calculation  upon  which  the  whole  un- 
dertaking has  been  based  depends  upon  the 
substantial  accuracy  of  the  figures  arrived  at 
for  the  cost  of  production.  If,  for  instance, 
the  author  has  agreed  to  prepare  for  a  series 


^blidations 


of  books  the  volumes  of  which  are  sold  at 
fixed  prices,  and  the  size  of  which  must  there- 
fore be  substantially  uniform,  a  work  contain- 
ing fifty  thousand  words ;  and  if  his  narrative 
has  extended  itself  to  one  hundred  thousand 
words  and  he  insists  that  it  is  not  practicable 
to  curtail  it  without  destroying  its  entire  liter- 
ary proportion  and  value,  the  publisher  is  at 
once  met  with  the  problem  of  printing  a  book 
that  must  be  sold  at  $i.oo,  and  that  is,  never- 
theless, to  contain  an  amount  of  material 
which  ought  to  be  sold  for  not  less  than  $1.50. 
At  first  thought,  it  would  hardly  seem  pos- 
sible that  an  author  to  whom  has  been  sub- 
mitted, before  he  begins  work  upon  his  volume, 
the  specific  scheme  of  the  series  in  which  it  is 
to  find  place,  and  whose  contract  even  speci- 
fies the  precise  character  desired  for  his  work, 
should  be  heedless  enough  to  bring  to  com- 
pletion a  narrative  that  was  of  an  unsuitable 
character  which  could  not  be  harmonized 
with  the  rest  of  the  series.  The  contract  also 
specifies  the  amount  of  matter  (/.  e.  number 
of  thousand  words)  to  be  contained  in  the 
volumes,  the  specification  being  given  with 
a  maximum  and  minimum  limit,  leaving 
a  margin  of  a  few  thousand  words.  With 
these  figures  before  him,  an  author  ought 
not  to  permit  himself  to  shape  a  book  so 
different  in  compass  that  it  cannot  be 
printed  in  a  uniform   series  with  the  other 


Ube 

3Ba0{s 

of  a 

publisbs 

ing  tnnbera 

tahing 


.UNIVERSITY 


OBRAFY 


SAiVTA  BAlJBAllA 


JI?OaiNlA 


I02 


HutbotB  and  publisbers 


Ube 
tRequfrca 
mente  for 

tbe 
Hutboc 


volumes,  and  that,  when  sold  at  the  price  an- 
nounced in  advance,  will  bring  loss  instead 
of  profit.  It  would  also  seem  hardly  probable 
that  an  author,  having  been  so  regardless  of 
the  preliminary  conditions  laid  down  for  his 
work,  should,  when  this  work  was  com- 
pleted, be  so  unreasonable  as  to  insist  that  his 
volume  must  be  accepted  in  the  precise  form 
in  which  he  has  written  it ;  that,  whatever  the 
conditions  or  the  limitations  of  the  series,  his 
own  individual  literary  methods  and  literary 
execution  must  not  be  interfered  with;  and 
that  (his  own  compensation  being  assured 
under  some  fixed  payment  arrangement)  the 
question  of  possible  profit  or  loss  for  the  pub- 
lisher is  a  matter  concerning  which  he  need 
give  himself  no  concern.  Improbable  as  such 
a  state  of  mind  or  such  a  method  of  action  ap- 
pears to  be,  as  thus  set  forth,  I  can  only  say 
that  the  experience  of  nearly  all  publishers  and 
editors  who  have  had  to  do  with  the  publica- 
tion of  series,  will  show  not  a  few  examples 
of  just  such  literary  perversities. 

A  second  detail  in  which  the  original  calcu- 
lation can  be  set  at  naught  is  the  practice  on 
the  part  of  certain  authors  of  rewriting  or 
reshaping  their  narratives  to  a  considerable 
extent  after  the  material  has  been  put  into  type. 
It  is  perfectly  possible  for  an  author  whose 
brilliant  thoughts  come  to  him  by  degrees,  or 
whose  accuracy  in  regard  to  statements  only 


^blid^tlons 


103 


begins  to  cause  him  anxiety  wiien  he  sees 
these  statements  in  type,  to  reshape  his  work 
when  it  comes  to  him  in  the  form  of  proofs  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  double  or  very  largely  to 
increase  the  cost  of  the  typesetting.  If,  in  the 
original  calculation,  it  has  been  estimated  that 
$500  must  be  provided  for  putting  the  volume 
into  type,  an  expenditure  for  this  item  of  $750 
will  of  necessity  throw  the  calculation  out  by 
the  amount  of  the  excess,  and  the  possibility 
of  profit  will  be  proportionately  reduced. 

Against  this  troublesome  risk  of  expense  un- 
der the  heading  of  "  extra  corrections,"  that  is 
to  say,  of  changes  in  the  author's  text  after 
this  text  has  been  put  into  type,  the  publish- 
ers endeavor  to  protect  themselves  in  various 
ways,  and  such  attempts  are,  of  course,  in  the 
interest  of  the  business  results  of  the  under- 
taking, and,  in  more  ways  than  one,  in  the 
interest  of  the  author  himself.  Provisions  are 
inserted  in  the  contracts  under  which  the  cost 
of  such  "  extra  corrections  "  is  to  be  borne  by 
the  author  himself,  on  the  assumption  that  he 
has  agreed  to  deliver  copy  in  readiness  for  the 
typesetters,  and  that  he  ought  to  have  carried 
out  his  agreement.  Sometimes,  in  the  case  of 
material  presenting  special  difficulties,  an  al- 
lowance is  made  under  the  heading  of  "ex- 
tra corrections,"  by  means  of  which  a  portion 
of  the  cost  of  these  is  assumed  by  the  pub- 
lisher.    A  further  help  is  given  under  present 


ertta 

Corrects 
ioiw 


I04 


Hutbors  anD  publisbers 


Butbors' 

Coo 
cections 


methods  by  insisting  that  the  author  shall 
have  in  his  hands  for  revision,  before  the  vol- 
ume goes  to  the  typesetters,  a  clean  typewrit- 
ten copy,  and  that  he  shall  expend  upon  these 
typewritten  pages  all  his  desires  for  improve- 
ments, changes,  or  corrections. 

An  author  will  sometimes  (and  not  unnatu- 
rally) take  the  ground  that  it  is  unreasonable 
for  a  publisher  to  object  to  having  corrections 
made  in  the  proof  and  to  assuming  the  cost  of 
such  corrections,  because  the  whole  purpose 
of  them  is  "to  make  the  book  more  complete 
or  more  accurate  and  therefore  more  valu- 
able." The  rejoinder  is,  of  course,  a  very 
simple  one,  and  has  been  indicated  in  the 
above  reference  to  the  publisher's  preliminary 
calculations  upon  the  basis  of  which  the  un- 
dertaking has  been  entered  upon.  A  publica- 
tion which  at  a  given  expenditure  could  be 
reasonably  expected  to  return  a  profit  on  the 
investment,  might  very  easily,  in  case  this 
expenditure  were  to  be  materially  increased, 
prove  to  be,  from  a  business  point  of  view,  an 
undesirable  venture.  It  is,  therefore,  not  prac- 
ticable to  leave  in  the  hands  of  the  author  the 
determination  of  so  important  an  item  of  the 
outlay  as  that  of  the  typesetting.  Some  re- 
striction or  limitation  is  evidently  necessary. 
The  safest  and  most  educational  restriction, 
from  a  publisher's  point  of  view,  is  to  provide 
that  the  cost  of  these  later  changes  or  extra 


©blfgatlons 


105 


corrections  shall  be  borne  in  toto  by  the 
author.  An  almost  certain  result  of  such  a 
regulation  is  that  an  author  who  has  paid 
such  a  charge  for  changes  in  his  first  book 
is  much  more  careful  to  present  for  his  second, 
"  copy  "  finally  revised  and  complete.  Some 
modification  of  such  an  arrangement  is,  how- 
ever, as  before  suggested,  proper  enough  un- 
der certain  special  conditions  or  for  works  of 
an  exceptional  character. 

The  third  detail  that  is  to  be  considered  in 
treating  of  the  obligations  entered  into  by  the 
author  is  the  time  within  which  his  work  is 
to  be  completed.  It  is  occasionally  found 
practicable  to  insert  in  the  contract  a  specific 
date  or  term  of  months  or  years  within  which 
the  author  undertakes  to  place  in  the  hands 
of  the  publisher  the  completed  work  in  readi- 
ness for  the  typesetters.  In  the  great  majority 
of  such  publishing  contracts,  however,  it  is 
not  found  advisable  to  insert  any  such  date, 
partly  because  literary  or  scientific  work  can- 
not, as  a  rule,  be  executed  with  the  same  pre- 
cision of  time  calculation  as  is  possible  for 
a  house  or  a  bridge,  and  partly  because,  even 
if  the  date  were  inserted,  the  publisher  has 
very  seldom  available  any  means  for  compel- 
ling the  author  to  abide  by  such  a  condition. 
This  last  point  will  be  touched  upon  again. 

It  will  be  easily  understood,  however,  that, 
with  all  literary  undertakings,  the  date  when 


Butbor's 
Ohlim 
gatione 
for  tbe 
Coma 
pletfon 
ot  bis 
3Bool( 


io6  Hutbors  an^  publisbers 


xosf  the  publisher  can  plan  to  put  the  book  in  the 
Beta^s  hands  of  the  typesetters,  and  later  into  the 
market  for  sale,  is  a  very  material  element 
indeed  in  the  business  calculations  upon 
which  the  undertaking  has  been  based.  With 
a  certain  class  of  publications,  in  fact,  the 
practicability  of  having  the  book  in  readiness 
for  a  given  season  may  be  so  important  as  to 
constitute  a  determining  factor  in  the  decision 
to  place  the  commission  for  its  preparation  in 
the  hands  of  one  author  rather  than  of  an- 
other. It  happens  frequently  enough  in  the 
record  of  publishing  that,  in  connection  with 
some  special  trend  of  public  interest,  two  or 
more  publishers  may  be  planning  different 
works  on  the  same  general  subject,  or  on  dif- 
ferent phases  of  such  subject.  Publisher  A, 
whose  author,  realizing  the  requirement  of  the 
case,  has  kept  faith  in  the  undertaking,  and 
has  completed  his  work  at  the  time  agreed 
upon,  will  secure  for  his  book  the  first  public 
demand,  which  is,  as  a  rule,  by  far  the  largest 
portion  of  such  demand.  Publisher  B  comes 
before  the  public  some  time  later  with  a  more 
or  less  similar  book,  and  finds  that  the  inter- 
est of  the  readers  has  been  in  great  part  sup- 
plied. The  second  volume  may  represent  as 
large  an  amount  of  skilled  labor  as  has  been 
put  into  the  first,  and  may  also  have  involved 
as  considerable  an  investment  of  capital.  The 
prospect,  however,  of  securing  for  this  invest- 


©bUaations  107 


ment  a  remunerative  return  has  been  very       %e»» 
seriously  impaired,  if  not  altogether  destroyed,      %l^^g 
by  the  delay  on  the  part  of  the  author. 

In  another  class  of  cases,  the  public  question 
itself  may  have  passed  by,  while  in  a  matter 
of  scientific  investigation  the  results  of  some 
later  investigations  may  have  been  brought 
into  print.  There  are,  in  fact,  a  great  many 
influences  which  will  go  to  destroy  the  trust- 
worthiness of  the  original  publishing  calcula- 
tions, if  one  factor  in  these  calculations,  the 
time  within  which  the  work  is  to  be  com- 
pleted, cannot  be  depended  upon.  The 
publisher  has  been  misled  into  making  an  in- 
vestment which  ought  not  to  have  been  made 
unless  he  could  depend  upon  his  author. 

This  class  of  calculation  comes  up  for  the 
most  part  only  in  connection  with  books 
which  have  been  suggested  by  the  publisher 
himself.  The  instance,  however,  sometimes 
occurs  of  an  author  bringing  to  a  publisher 
the  plan  of  a  work  which  calls  for  a  consider- 
able outlay,  and  inducing  the  publisher  to 
make  the  investment  on  the  strength  of  the 
knowledge  claimed  to  be  possessed  by  the 
author  himself  of  a  special  class  of  require- 
ments which  this  particular  book  will  meet 
"better  than  any  work  in  existence,"  and 
which  will  insure  for  the  proposed  volume  a 
remunerative  circle  of  buyers.  Before,  how- 
ever, the  author  completes  his  share  of  the 


io8  Hutbors  an&  publisbers 

JSOOI10  undertaking,  some  other  work  is  brouglit  into 
^"  the  market  which  supplies  in  substance  the 
requirements  specified,  and  so  far  curtails  the 
possible  demand  for  the  book  first  put  in  train 
that  the  publication  of  this  results  in  loss 
instead  of  in  profit.  If  the  author  has  arranged 
to  receive  for  his  labor  a  guaranteed  pay- 
ment, and  if  the  loss  of  the  market  and  of  the 
opportunity  for  sale  has  been  due  to  the 
author's  own  lack  of  precision  and  of  reason- 
able promptness  in  completing  his  work  and 
in  supervising  its  passage  through  the  press, 
the  publisher  certainly  has  a  reasonable  ground 
for  complaint. 

A  considerable  proportion  of  the  books 
which  are  written  at  the  instance  or  suggest- 
ion of  the  publisher  are  those  which  are 
issued  in  series  ;  such  undertakings  as  the 
English  Men  of  Letters  series,  the  Inter- 
national Science  series,  the  Stories  of  the 
Nations,  the  Heroes  of  the  Nations,  have  been 
planned  by  the  publishers,  and  the  volumes 
contributed  to  them  are  for  the  most  part  the 
work  of  contributors  who  have  been  selected 
by  the  publishers  or  by  their  editors.  The  in- 
structions or  specifications  given  to  a  con- 
tributor at  the  time  the  arrangement  for  his 
volume  is  completed,  set  forth  the  general 
character  which  the  narrative  should  possess, 
its  compass,  that  is  to  say,  the  number  of 
words  it  should  contain,  and  the  date  (stated 


©bllQattons  109 


either  precisely  or  approximately)   when  it       3Book0 


should  be  completed. 

A  publisher,  having  in  train  a  series  which  is 
to  comprise  from  twelve  to  fifty  volumes,  finds 
it  essential  to  arrange  that  the  several  volumes 
shall  be  delivered  to  him  at  convenient  inter- 
vals, which  will  enable  attention  to  be  given 
with  reasonable  promptness  to  putting  through 
the  press  each  volume  after  it  is  delivered.  It 
is,  of  course,  undesirable  both  for  the  general 
repute  of  the  series  and  for  its  commercial  suc- 
cess that  there  should  be  any  very  long  gaps 
between  the  several  volumes.  The  readers 
who  have  begun  to  purchase  the  series  must 
not  be  allowed  to  get  the  impression  that  it 
has  ceased  publication,  or  that  the  publishers 
have  lost  their  interest  in  it.  While  a  precise 
regularity  of  publication  is,  as  a  rule,  not  prac- 
ticable, the  volumes  ought  to  appear  at  inter- 
vals so  near  together  that  the  publishers  can 
announce  a  given  number  of  volumes  to  be  in 
readiness  within  a  term  of,  say,  twelve  months. 
It  is  equally  inconvenient,  after  a  considerable 
lapse  or  delay  in  the  appearance  of  volumes, 
for  the  publisher  to  receive  from  a  number  of 
contributors  at  one  time  a  larger  group  of 
manuscripts  than  can  be  conveniently  or 
effectively  handled  at  once.  When  an  author 
has  placed  his  manuscript  in  the  hands  of  the 
publisher,  he  is,  as  a  rule,  very  urgent  for  im- 
mediate attention  on  the  part  of  the  typesetters 


in 
SetUe 


Hutbors  an&  publtsbers 


Ube       and  the  printers.     The  longer  he  has  delayed 


Obib 
gations 


his  own  work,  the  more  likely  is  he  to  be  ex- 
of  tbe  acting  in  regard  to  promptness  of  attention 
autboc  j^  ^he  publishing  office.  If,  however,  eight 
or  ten  books  for  one  series  should  come  into 
the  office  together,  it  is,  as  a  rule,  absolutely 
impracticable  to  put  them  all  at  once  into  the 
hands  of  the  printers,  while  even  if  they  could 
by  any  means  all  be  delivered  together  from 
the  manufacturing  department,  it  would  be 
absolutely  "bad  business"  to  publish  them  at 
once.  Some  of  them  would  have  to  be  held 
over  until  the  regular  publishing  intervals 
could  again  be  arranged  for. 

This  explanation  will  make  clear  the  im- 
portance of  securing  as  contributors  for  such 
series  authors  who  can  be  relied  upon  to  give 
some  consideration  to  the  business  require- 
ments, and  whose  word  in  regard  to  the  com- 
pletion of  the  volumes  entrusted  to  them  can 
be  accepted  without  the  necessity  for  any 
very  large  measure  of  allowance.  Every  pub- 
lisher, however,  who  has  carried  to  its  com- 
pletion an  undertaking  of  this  kind,  has  on 
his  books  the  records  of  not  a  few  authors 
who  have  shown  themselves  utterly  regard- 
less of  this  phase  of  their  obligations.  An 
author  will  accept  a  commission  for  a  volume 
on  some  subject  on  which  he  is  considered 
an  authority,  and  will  have  explained  to  him 
the  nature  of  the  series  for  which  his  volume 


©blfQations  m 


is  to  be  prepared,  while  the  contract  signed       ube 


gatione 


by  him  will  set  forth  the  several  requirements 
previously  referred  to.  Without,  as  a  rule,  "oftbe 
agreeing  to  a  specific  term  within  which  he  »«tbor 
promises  to  deliver  his  book,  the  author  does 
accept  the  general  statement  as  to  a  reasona- 
ble time,  and  he  usually  gives  to  the  publisher 
some  estimate  or  calculation  as  to  what  that 
time  will  be,  an  estimate  which  is  of  necessity 
based  partly  upon  the  nature  and  the  extent 
of  the  subject-matter  to  be  considered  and 
partly  upon  any  previous  similar  engagements 
to  which  he  may  already  have  bound  him- 
self. Not  a  few  authors  will,  however,  per- 
mit a  series  of  years  to  go  by  without  fulfilling 
an  obligation  of  this  kind.  The  publisher  has 
been  precluded  by  his  agreement  from  giving 
the  commission  to  some  other  writer,  although 
during  the  years  which  have  passed  since  the 
execution  of  the  contract,  suggestions  may 
have  come  to  him  from  more  capable  and  from 
more  valuable  men  who  were  willing  to  under- 
take the  task.  The  continuity  of  the  series  is 
interfered  with,  the  completion  of  its  original 
plan  is  hampered  and  marred,  and  its  value  as  a 
property  is  lessened.  The  author  whose  con- 
tribution was  expected  to  form  a  material  ad- 
dition to  the  value  of  the  series  as  a  whole  has, 
through  his  heedlessness  and  his  failure  to  recog- 
nize the  nature  of  his  obligation,  done  not  a  little 
to  interfere  with  the  success  of  the  undertaking. 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


Ube  The   author  may   defend  himself  on   the 


nations 


ground  that  he  has  never  contracted  to  com- 
oir  the  plete  his  volume  by  a  specified  date.  There 
Htttboc  j^gg^  however,  as  a  rule,  been  a  substantial 
understanding  between  himself  and  the  pub- 
lisher as  to  a  certain  limit  within  which  the 
work  would  be  delivered.  The  author  would 
hardly  contend  that  the  omission  of  a  date  in 
the  agreement  would  leave  him  free  to  wait 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century  for  instance,  or  that 
the  tender  of  a  volume  twenty  years  or  more 
after  the  series  for  which  it  had  been  planned 
was  completed,  would  constitute  what  the 
stockbrokers  call  a  "good  delivery."  In  any 
such  agreement  something  must,  of  course,  be 
left  to  the  good  faith  and  to  the  reasonableness 
of  the  contracting  parties.  The  fact  that  the 
publisher  has  thought  himself  justified  in 
placing  confidence  in  the  author's  word  and 
has  not  included  in  the  contract  a  stipulation 
that  would  give  him  a  remedy  at  law,  is  a 
defence  that  would  of  course  hardly  be  main- 
tained by  a  man  of  honor. 

I  recall  to  mind,  however,  cases  (of  which  I 
have  first-hand  knowledge)  in  which  authors 
who  had  expected  to  deliver  their  books 
within  two  years,  or  at  the  furthest,  three 
years,  have  held  the  commission  in  their 
hands  for  six,  seven,  and  eight  years  before 
the  discouraged  publisher  has  thought  it 
necessary  to  cancel  the  contract  and  to  make 


©bliaations  113 


other  arrangements.  In  one  of  these  cases  s>e- 
the  author  had  had  the  commission  placed  in  ^"^JoJ] 
his  hands  when  he  was  still  a  young  student, 
comparatively  unknown  to  the  general  public. 
As  his  attainments  and  his  responsibilities  in- 
creased, he  found  himself  interested  in  other 
directions  and  decided  that  the  easiest  way  of 
getting  out  of  his  early  obligation  was  simply 
to  delay  doing  what  he  had  promised  to  do, 
until  "the  party  of  the  second  part"  should 
decide  to  give  up  the  undertaking.  In  an- 
other instance,  an  author  who  had  waited  six 
years  without  taking  any  measures  to  make 
good  his  obligation,  accepted  later  commis- 
sions from  other  publishers  and  completed  for 
these  publishers  the  books  promised  to  them 
without  any  apparent  realization  of  the  fact 
that  he  was  committing  a  breach  of  contract 
with  the  publisher  who  had  first  placed  trust 
in  his  word.  In  both  of  these  instances  the 
authors  held  responsible  University  positions. 
In  a  third  case  an  author  who  possessed 
authoritative  knowledge  on  a  technical  and 
scientific  subject  was  engaged,  on  terms 
satisfactory  to  himself,  to  prepare  a  work  of 
reference  on  this  subject  which  was  to  be 
completed  in  ten  volumes.  Three  volumes 
were  prepared  for  the  press  and  were  pub- 
lished in  due  course.  For  the  fourth  volume 
(as  a  favor  to  the  author  and  unfortunately  as 
it  proved  for  the  final  history  of  the  undertak- 


114  Hutbors  an&  ipubllsbers 

3)e«  ing),  the  publishers  rashly  advanced  to  the 
Butbors  author  the  amount  of  the  compensation  agreed 
upon.  Since  the  date  of  such  advance  (now 
eleven  years  ago),  the  author  has  failed  either  to 
deliver  the  material  for  the  volume  for  which 
he  has  been  paid  or  to  deliver  any  further 
material  whatever.  He  has  accepted  and  has 
presumably  been  paid  for  other  commissions, 
and  probably  still  classes  himself  as  a  reput- 
able citizen.  He  has  given  no  reason  for  his 
delinquency  and  no  question  has  ever  arisen 
concerning  the  facts  of  the  agreement  or  the 
nature  of  the  responsibilities  accepted  by  the 
author  under  this  agreement.  The  subscrib- 
ers to  the  work  have  had  good  reason  for 
complaint  against  both  its  English  and  Ameri- 
can publishers,  on  the  ground  that  they  were 
left  with  a  fragment  when  they  had  been 
promised  a  complete  series.  They  had  been 
called  upon,  to  be  sure,  to  make  payment 
only  for  the  three  volumes  delivered,  but  they 
contended  (and  with  reason)  that  the  three 
volumes  had  trifling  value  unless  the  set  were 
to  be  completed.  These  subscribers  had  in 
fact  a  fair  claim  against  the  English  and 
American  publishers  for  the  refunding  of 
the  amounts  paid  by  them. 

In  a  fourth  instance,  a  manuscript  of  a 
work  prepared  by  an  author  for  a  series,  was 
returned  to  the  author  in  order  to  have  certain 
omissions  supplied  and  to  have  a  final  chapter 


^blidations 


"5 


added.  Until  this  additional  material  had  been 
prepared,  the  work  did  not  fulfil  the  specifi- 
cations of  the  agreement.  On  the  first  delivery 
of  the  manuscript  the  author  had  received  a 
substantial  proportion  of  the  compensation 
arranged  for.  The  publisher  was  obliged  to 
wait  for  three  years  before  he  could  recover 
his  manuscript.  He  was  thankful  then  to  be 
able  to  get  hold  of  it  still  incomplete  and  re- 
quiring, before  it  could  be  put  to  press, 
further  labor  on  the  part  of  another  writer. 

Another  method  by  which  an  author  can 
do  injustice  to  the  publisher  for  whom  he  has 
prepared  a  volume,  is  to  put  into  the  market, 
within  some  brief  term  after  the  publication 
of  the  first  book,  another  work  which  has  to 
do  with  the  same  subject-matter.  Such 
second  volume  may  be  an  expansion  of  the 
narrative  contained  in  the  first,  in  which  case 
the  rival  publisher  will  be  able  to  advertise 
it  as  "the  complete  and  final  work  by  its 
distinguished  author"  on  this  particular  sub- 
ject. Or  it  may  be  a  briefer  statement  of  the 
same  thesis,  taking  the  form  of  a  condensa- 
tion or  popularization  of  the  original  work. 
Such  a  volume  will  also  give  to  its  publisher 
an  opportunity  for  an  announcement  or  an 
advertisement  that  will  interfere  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  with  the  standing  before  the 
public  of  the  first  book.  It  may  in  fact  have 
been  through  the  book  first  published  that  the 


linquent 
Butbort 


ments 


ii6  Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 

(5006  author  has  won  his  original  reputation,  as  far 
*"""  as  the  general  public  is  concerned,  as  an 
Harec-  authority  on  the  subject-matter.  Rival  pub- 
lishers will  be  very  ready  to  take  advantage 
of  this  reputation  in  one  way  or  another,  and 
the  decision  must  of  necessity  rest  with  the 
author  himself  as  to  how  far  he  may  continue 
the  production  of  volumes  on  this  special  sub- 
ject without  interfering  with  the  obligations 
assumed  by  him  in  connection  with  the  first 
book. 

Of  course,  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  an 
author  having  once  come  before  the  public 
with  a  volume  on  his  own  subject,  is  thereby 
estopped  from  publishing  anything  further  on 
this  subject.  There  must  of  necessity  be  not 
a  few  grades  of  possible  competition.  The 
second  book  may  interfere  with  the  first  not  at 
all,  while  it  may  entirely  kill  its  sale  and  bring 
to  the  original  publisher  the  feeling  that  his 
confidence  has  been  abused.  The  very  fact 
that  the  contingency  is  one  that  it  would  be 
difficult  to  provide  against  completely  in  the 
most  carefully  worded  agreements,  increases 
the  necessity  for  a  large  measure  of  good  faith 
on  the  part  of  the  author  who  has  executed 
such  a  commission.  I  am  writing  this 
paragraph  with  the  remembrance  of  two  or 
three  instances  that  have  come  to  my  personal 
knowledge  within  the  last  few  years  in  which 
such  good  faith  has   not  been  maintained. 


©bU^ations  117 


The   publishers  whose  confidence   has  been        Hn 
abused  would  have  found  it  difficult  to  show      "^^^H 
ground  for  action  in  a  court  of  law,  but  they         of 


would  have  had  no  difficulty  in  making  clear 
to  a  board  of  literary  arbitrators  that  an  in- 
justice had  been  done  to  them. 

I  recall  a  further  case  in  which  a  publishing 
House  entered  into  an  arrangement  with  a 
young  author  who  had  done  brilliant  and 
promising  work,  to  make  a  substantial  annual 
payment,  in  consideration  of  which  payment 
the  publisher  was  to  have  the  control  of  all 
the  literary  output  of  the  author  during  each 
year  of  the  agreement.  The  result  of  the  first 
year  of  the  arrangement  was  that  the  author 
produced  practically  nothing.  He  drew  his 
stipend,  and  gave  in  exchange  no  consider- 
ation. At  the  end  of  the  first  year,  the  agree- 
ment was  very  naturally  terminated,  and  the 
productions  of  the  author  for  the  succeeding 
two  years,  productions  which  included  some 
of  his  most  successful  work,  were  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  rival  House.  It  is,  I  think,  fair  to 
assume  that,  in  this  case,  the  author  had  no 
deliberate  intention  of  taking  money  without 
consideration.  He  was  an  unsystematic  and 
procrastinating  man,  who  had  always  had 
trouble  with  his  personal  balance-sheet,  and 
who  had  (like  Edgar  Poe,  and  not  a  few  other 
brilliant  writers)  produced  some  of  his  most 
effective  work  under  the  pressure  of  urgent 


Compena 
eation 


ii8 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


jDitRcuIties 

of  tbe 
publiebers 


need  of  funds.  When  the  stimulus  was  re- 
moved, his  mind  refused  to  work  effectively, 
and  the  result  was  loss  for  his  too  trusting 
publisher,  and  (we  may  hope)  mortification 
for  himself.  Such  an  arrangement  was  in 
fact  bad  both  in  principle  and  in  practice,  and 
the  publisher  deserved  to  lose  his  money  for 
his  bad  judgment. 

These  instances,  specimens  of  what  might 
easily  be  made  a  very  long  list,  are  mentioned 
not  for  the  purpose  of  suggesting  that  authors 
are  more  likely  than  other  men  to  prove  re- 
gardless of  their  obligations,  but  to  indicate 
some  of  the  difficulties  to  which  publishers 
are  exposed  in  entering  into  agreements  or 
contracts  with  literary  men.  In  such  con- 
tracts the  obligations  assumed  by  the  publish- 
ers are  very  clearly  set  forth  ;  and  in  case  these 
obligations  may  not  be  fulfilled,  in  case,  for 
instance,  the  payments  specified  are  not  made, 
the  author  has  a  very  simple  remedy.  He 
places  his  case  in  the  hands  of  his  solicitor 
and  the  moneys  due  are  collected  under  the 
ordinary  routine  of  the  law. 

It  is,  however,  not  practicable  to  utilize  the 
machinery  of  the  law  to  compel  an  author  to 
carry  out  his  part  of  the  agreement.  The 
authority  of  no  court  would  be  sufficient  to 
force  a  dilatory  or  unwilling  author  to  write  a 
book  that  he  had  agreed  to  write,  and  even 
if  he  should  go  through  with  the  form  of 


©bllaations 


119 


obeying  an  order  of  the  court  to  such  effect, 
it  is  hardly  probable  that  the  book  written 
under  such  special  circumstances  would  be  a 
satisfactory  literary  production  or  would  se- 
cure a  commercial  success.  Moreover,  even 
if  the  publisher  might  have  his  agreement  so 
worded  that  he  would  be  in  a  position  to 
secure  its  enforcement  under  the  law,  it  is  not 
probable  that  such  a  course  would  be  for  him 
a  wise  business  policy.  Such  procedure  on 
his  part  might  very  easily  raise  against  him  in 
literary  circles  a  prejudice  or  antagonism  that 
would  cause  more  serious  injury  to  his  busi- 
ness interests  than  that  which  could  be 
brought  upon  him  through  the  delinquency 
of  any  one  author. 

Contracts  between  authors  and  publishers 
are  therefore  of  necessity  very  largely  one- 
sided, and  the  publisher  must  at  the  best  de- 
pend in  the  main  upon  the  good  faith,  the 
fairness  of  dealing,  and  a  reasonable  under- 
standing of  business  requirements,  on  the 
part  of  the  author. 

This  special  feature  of  publishers'  contracts 
is  worth  calling  attention  to  at  a  time  when 
the  authors  are  organizing  themselves  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
fending their  rights  as  producers  and  of  secur- 
ing a  larger  measure  of  return  for  their  literary 
labors.  These  organizations  of  literary  work- 
ers are  to  be  welcomed  on  more  grounds  than 


Xact! 

of 

power 

to 
Enforce 
Contract* 


I20 


autbors  ant)  publisbers 


IDalue 

to 

Butbor0 

of 

®rgan{a 

3at(on 


one.  The  literary  producers,  and  particularly 
the  younger  authors,  ought  to  have,  in  be- 
ginning their  business  operations,  the  full 
advantage  of  the  experience  of  other  literary 
men  whose  works  have  already  been  placed 
upon  the  market  under  a  variety  of  publishing 
arrangements.  They  ought  to  be  protected, 
as  far  as  may  be  practicable,  against  the  mis- 
management of  incompetent  business  agents 
and  against  the  misstatements  and  wrong- 
doing of  untrustworthy  managers.  The  au- 
thor ought  to  secure  the  fullest  and  most 
specific  information  concerning  his  rights  and 
concerning  the  average  market  value  of  his 
work,  and  he  ought  to  be  able  to  feel  as- 
sured that  for  this  work  he  obtains  the  full- 
est net  returns  that  are  practicable  under  the 
existing  literary  and  publishing  conditions. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  ascertaining  his  rights, 
he  should  also  ascertain  and  be  prepared 
faithfully  to  carry  out  his  obligations.  If  the 
old  personal  publishing  relation,  with  its  many 
attractions  and  with  its  various  disadvantages, 
is  to  disappear,  and  if  this  is  to  be  replaced  by 
a  well-defined  business  system  of  purchase 
and  sale,  of  contracts  arrived  at  under  the 
varying  conditions  of  the  market,  and  of  pub- 
lishing agreements  requiring  in  the  case  of 
each  book  the  service  of  brokers  and  solicit- 
ors, there  ought  at  least  to  be  the  final  ad- 
vantage of  a  clearly  specified  business  relation 


©bllgatfons 


121 


in  which  each  party  should  accept  definite 
obligations,  and  in  which  there  should  be 
some  means  of  enforcing  for  each  party  the 
due  fulfilment  of  such  obligations. 

I  trust  that  it  may  at  some  time  prove  prac- 
ticable to  establish  a  kind  of  literary  court  or 
board  of  arbitration,  before  which  court  could 
be  brought  the  various  questions  and  issues 
that  arise  between  publisher  and  author.  The 
most  important  of  the  issues  to  be  considered 
in  this  way  would  be  of  the  class  previously 
referred  to,  which,  while  distinct  breaches  of 
good  faith  or  of  justice,  are  not  of  necessity 
infringements  of  contract  or  breaches  of  law. 

Such  a  court  or  commission  might  be  in- 
stituted under  the  joint  action  of  a  society 
of  authors  and  a  publishers'  association.  It 
could  utilize  for  legal  requirements  the  services 
of  counsel  who  had  interested  themselves  in 
the  law  of  literature,  and  who  had  familiarized 
themselves  with  the  conditions  and  the  pre- 
cedents of  publishing.  The  fees  charged  to 
the  contesting  parties  should  prove  sufficient 
to  secure  adequate  compensation  for  the  best 
services  on  the  part  both  of  the  lawyers  and 
of  the  expert  laymen,  whose  time  was  also  of 
value.  It  is  probable  that  a  mere  fraction  of 
the  amounts  that  would  be  required  to  put 
through  an  English  or  an  American  court  an 
ordinary  case  of  infringement  or  breach  of 
contract,  or  of  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the 


anb 

Ctbli* 
nations 


122 


Butbors  an&  ipubUsbers 


literary 
Courts 


interpretation  of  a  contract,  would  be  amply 
sufficient  to  provide  the  needful  compensation 
for  counsel  and  for  arbiters.  In  not  a  few 
cases,  the  services  of  counsel  could  in  fact 
propably  be  dispensed  with,  as  the  contest- 
ing parties  would  be  perfectly  capable  of 
submitting  the  statements  of  their  respective 
contentions. 

I  am  convinced  that  the  authority  of  such  a 
court  could  be  made  of  very  material  service 
in  lessening  friction  and  differences  of  opinion 
between  literary  workers  and  their  business 
representatives,  while  from  a  personal  point 
of  view,  I  should  attach  a  special  importance 
to  the  value  of  such  a  court  for  the  interests  of 
the  publisher,  because  it  is  the  case,  as  pre- 
viously pointed  out,  that  the  publisher  is,  un- 
der present  conditions,  comparatively  helpless 
in  securing  from  the  other  party  to  his  pub- 
lishing contracts  the  same  measure  of  obedi- 
ence that  can  nearly  always  be  enforced 
against  himself. 

I  judge,  also,  that  the  series  of  decisions  that 
would  be  secured  from  the  court  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years,  should  constitute  a  most  valua- 
ble body  of  precedents  that  would  come  to 
form  a  system  of  literary  and  of  publishing 
relations,  and  would  be  accepted  as  the  law 
controlling  these  relations.  Such  a  system 
would  have  as  a  certain  effect  the  weeding 
out  of  irresponsible  and  untrustworthy  pub- 


©bliGatfons 


123 


lishers,  and  the  development  of  a  larger  meas- 
ure of  business  knowledge  and  of  a  sense  of 
business  responsibility  on  the  part  of  authors. 
It  should  also  bring  about  a  cessation  or  a 
material  diminution  of  vague  charges  and 
groundless  complaints  (complaints  which  are 
very  largely  due  to  heedless  ignorance  of  the 
real  conditions  and  limitations  of  the  business 
of  publishing  books),  and,  in  lessening  very 
much  the  causes  and  the  possibility  of  disputes 
and  issues,  should  place  on  a  satisfactory 
foundation  the  relations  between  authors  and 
publishers. 


literary 
Court0 


124 


XTbe  Xiterar^  aaent. 


Ube 

Xiterarie 

Bgent 


DURING  the  past  few  years  a  new  factor 
has  found  place  in  publishing  under- 
takings. The  business  of  making  arrange- 
ments on  behalf  of  the  authors  has  to  a  certain 
extent  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  brokers 
who  describe  their  occupation  as  that  of  liter- 
ary agents.  These  agents  undertake  to  find  a 
market  for  literary  productions  in  somewhat 
the  same  manner  in  which  real-estate  brokers 
will  arrange  to  find  purchasers  for  blocks  of 
land,  or  brokers  in  securities  will,  for  a  con- 
sideration, bring  about  transactions  between 
the  sellers  and  the  buyers  of  bonds  or  shares. 
There  are  certain  very  evident  advantages 
to  an  author  in  placing  his  business  interests 
in  the  hands  of  such  an  agent.  If  he  can 
secure  the  services  of  a  broker  whose  reports 
may  be  accepted  as  trustworthy,  he  can  have 
the  assurance  that  without  any  labor  or  dis- 
tasteful personal  applications  or  correspond- 
ence on  his  own  part,  the  literary  market  for 
his  particular  class  of  productions  will  be  ade- 


tlbe  Xiteratng  Baent  125 


quately  tested  at  the  time  when  he  has  a  work  service 
to  dispose  of.  There  is  both  a  personal  satis-  ^^tl„g 
faction  and  a  business  advantage  in  the  assur- 
ance that  the  proposition  secured  by  the  agent 
for  a  purchase  of  the  copyright  or  for  a  pub- 
lishing contract  on  some  other  basis,  represents 
the  most  advantageous  arrangement,  and  will 
bring  to  the  producer  the  largest  return  that  is 
at  that  time  practicable  for  the  work  in  ques- 
tion. Authors  who  distrust  their  own  busi- 
ness knowledge  or  business  capacity,  and 
who  have  a  personal  distaste  for  the  task  of 
making  bargains,  feel  that  they  secure  in  a 
service  of  this  kind  an  advantage  that  is  very 
well  worth  the  cost  of  the  agent's  commission. 
The  agent's  operations  assume  a  larger  range 
of  importance  in  the  cases  of  books  for  which 
international  and  transatlantic  arrangements 
are  to  be  made.  Such  arrangements  involve  a 
large  amount  of  correspondence  and,  to  be  in- 
telligently carried  out,  presuppose  a  know- 
ledge of  and  an  experience  with  the  publishing 
conditions  and  the  publishing  possibilities  of 
foreign  countries.  The  work  of  the  agent  is 
naturally  of  the  greatest  service  and  import- 
ance in  the  case  of  fiction,  and  the  increasing 
practice  of  making  sale  through  syndicates,  for 
publication  as  serials  in  groups  of  periodicals, 
of  stories  whose  character  fits  them  for  such 
use,  has  made  this  branch  of  the  literary 
agent's  business  almost  essential  for  authors 


126 


Hutbors  m\b  pubUsbers 


catino 

Brrangea 

ments 


who  are  interested  in  the  production  of  serial 
stories. 

The  possibility  of  utilizing  a  story  in  ad- 
vance of  its  publication  in  book-form,  simul- 
taneously in  an  English  and  in  an  American 
magazine,  or  of  making  sale  of  the  same 
through  newspaper  syndicates  to  groups  of 
county  papers  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic 
and  in  the  British  Colonies,  has  added  very 
largely  to  the  receipts  of  writers  of  successful 
fiction.  There  is  also  an  increase  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  readers  of  Continental  journals  in 
English  and  American  fiction  for  translations 
of  which  arrangements  can  be  made,  and  the 
extension  of  International  Copyright,  first 
under  the  Berne  Convention  throughout  the 
states  of  Europe,  and  later  under  the  American 
Act  of  1 89 1,  between  the  United  States  and 
the  larger  portion  of  the  states  of  Europe,  has 
furthered  very  much  the  sale  of  good  fiction  in 
countries  outside  of  the  country  of  its  origin. 
While  this  demand  has  largely  increased,  it  is 
fair  to  report  that  the  supply  of  fiction  offered 
for  the  purpose  is  increasing  very  much  more 
rapidly  and  is  at  present  largely  in  excess 
of  the  purchasing  power  of  the  syndicates, 
and  of  the  publishing  facilities  of  individual 
periodicals. 

For  the  work,  however,  of  ascertaining  what 
can  be  done  in  the  matter  of  securing  a  serial 
sale  of  stories,  the  service  of  the  literary  agent 


Ube  Xiterars  agent  127 

is  not  only  useful  but  is  almost  indispensable.  Miction 
It  is  fair  to  point  out  also  that,  apart  from  the  g^*"jgj 
business  advantages  secured  from  him  for  his  rorm 
clients  the  authors,  he  is  doing  a  certain  in- 
direct or  general  service  in  furthering  the 
development  of  international  literary  arrange- 
ments, and  in  emphasizing  the  principle  that 
the  production  and  the  distribution  of  litera- 
ture should  not  be  restricted  by  political 
boundaries. 

There  is,  however,  another  side  to  the  work 
of  these  literary  agencies  and  there  are  certain 
considerations  which  ought  not  to  be  lost  sight 
of  by  intelligent  authors  who  are  disposed  to 
place  in  the  hands  of  agents  the  entire  control 
of  their  publishing  relations.  First,  a  writer 
who  is  devoting  himself  to  authorship  as  a 
profession,  should,  of  course,  so  shape  his  un- 
dertakings that  they  shall  produce  for  him  as 
an  entirety  and  during  the  whole  term  of 
their  copyright  existence,  the  largest  possible 
aggregate  of  returns.  The  wise  author  who 
has  studied  carefully  his  relations  with  the 
book-buying  public,  will  understand  that  his 
books  should  be  handled  not  each  for  itself, 
but  together,  as  parts  of  a  literary  property  of 
continuous  and,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  of  increas- 
ing value.  An  author  whose  work  is  done 
with  a  certain  degree  of  regularity  (as  was  the 
case,  for  instance,  with  Trollope)  may  produce, 
say,  one  book  a  year.     A  more  rapid  produc- 


128 


Hutbors  an&  publisbers 


Certain 

Die* 

a^vantage0 

fncurreb 

tbrougb 
tbe1Il0eo( 

Xl0ent0 


tion,  while  occasionally  practicable,  has  not 
infrequently  meant,  in  the  history  of  literature, 
work  more  or  less  hasty,  lacking  in  literary 
finish,  and  not  doing  full  justice  to  the  author's 
own  standard.  A  production  at  a  much  slower 
rate,  while,  of  course,  inevitable  in  the  case  of 
writers  of  certain  temperaments  who  must 
wait  for  the  moment  or  for  the  season  of  in- 
spiration, sacrifices  of  necessity  something  of 
business  advantage.  If  a  second  book  follows 
a  first  at  an  interval  of  not  much  beyond 
twelve  months,  while  a  year  later  a  third  is 
brought  before  the  public,  the  remembrance 
of  the  reviews  and  of  the  personal  comment 
upon  and  interest  in  the  earlier  volume  or  vol- 
umes is  still  substantially  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
readers  at  the  time  when  the  announcement 
of  the  new  book  is  brought  to  their  attention. 
If  there  may  be  for  the  production  of  each 
year  an  equal  or  an  increasing  literary  prestige, 
there  develops  an  impression  on  the  part  of 
the  book-buying  public,  and  of  the  booksellers 
who  represent  this  public  more  or  less  imper- 
fectly, of  what  may  be  called  a  cumulative 
reputation.  This  literary  prestige  grows  from 
year  to  year  and  with  this  growth  there  comes 
a  correspondingly  steady  increase  in  the  value 
of  the  literary  property  represented  in  the 
author's  works.  Such  steady  development  in 
the  commercial  value  of  the  succeeding  books 
and  of  the  set  as  a  whole,  obtains  to  some  ex- 


Ubc  Xiterars  agent 


129 


tent  with  the  works  of  any  writer  who  keeps 
himself  regularly  before  the  public,  and  whose 
books  continue  to  secure  popular  appreciation. 
It  is,  however  (as  pointed  out  in  a  previous 
chapter),  very  seriously  hampered  and  lessened 
in  the  cases  of  books  which,  in  place  of  being 
grouped  together  in  a  uniform  set,  under  the 
management  of  one  publishing  concern,  are 
issued  in  volumes  that  are  printed  in  various 
forms  and  that  are  scattered  through  the 
catalogues  of  a  number  of  publishing  Houses. 
I  have  already  pointed  out  the  serious  disad- 
vantages from  the  publishing  point  of  view 
and  the  material  injury  to  the  property  value 
of  the  books  brought  about  through  such  a 
separation,  a  disadvantage  which  results  from 
such  causes  as  lack  of  uniform  publishing  con- 
trol and  management,  the  absence  of  any  busi- 
ness interest  in  pushing,  through  salesmen, 
the  sale  of  the  works  as  a  whole,  the  lessening 
of  the  advertising,  direct  and  indirect,  which 
can  be  done  for  the  author  and  for  his  works 
apart  from  and  in  addition  to  the  advertising 
of  separate  volumes,  etc. 

This  matter  comes  into  relation  with  the 
work  of  the  literary  agent  in  several  ways. 
If  an  author  makes  a  practice  of  putting  each 
new  book  into  the  hands  of  the  agent,  to  be 
oflTered  in  the  open  market  and  under  general 
competition  (at  auction  as  it  were)  to  the  vari- 
ous publishing  concerns  which  may  possibly 


3BooliS 

89  a 

property 


I30 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbera 


fteepfng 

3B00l!S 

TTogetbec 


be  interested,  the  books  will  be  scattered  in- 
creasingly in  proportion  to  the  length  of  the 
series.  An  author  must,  therefore,  weigh 
carefully  in  the  business  end  of  his  head  the 
respective  advantages  between  the  "auction 
system,"  which  will  occasionally  give  him  a 
somewhat  larger  price  for  a  single  book  than 
he  would  have  secured  under  a  continuous 
publishing  arrangement,  and  the  advantages 
above  specified  which  result  from  keeping 
his  books  grouped  together  so  that  they  can 
be  managed  as  one  literary  property. 

If  the  author  retains  the  copyright  of  his 
books,  receiving  a  royalty  on  each  copy  sold 
during  the  continuance  of  the  term  of  copy- 
right, his  returns  are,  of  course,  for  the  earlier 
as  for  the  later  books,  directly  proportioned  to 
the  extent  of  the  total  aggregate  sales.  His 
business  interest,  therefore,  in  having  the 
earlier  books  kept  effectively  before  the  pub- 
lic and  in  securing  for  these  the  full  advantage 
of  the  prestige  and  the  advertising  of  his  later 
productions,  is  easily  understood.  Even,  how- 
ever, in  the  case  of  books  the  copyright  of 
which  has  been  sold  outright,  the  author  has 
not  only  a  literary  but  a  business  interest  in 
having  them  kept  effectively  presented  to  the 
public,  and  in  having  them  obtain  continued 
annual  sales.  When  he  has  occasion,  in  offer- 
ing for  sale  a  later  production,  to  test  in  the 
literary  market  the  commercial  value  of  his 


Ube  Xiterar^  agent 


131 


name,  he  will  find  that  such  value  is  very 
materially  affected  by  the  status  in  the  market 
of  his  earlier  books.  If  these  are  still  in  active 
sale  and,  in  the  form  of  a  uniform  set,  have 
come  to  be  known  as  **  works,"  and  are  un- 
derstood by  the  booksellers  to  possess  what 
may  be  called  "vitality,"  it  is  probable  that  a 
circle  of  readers  is  ready  to  be  interested  in 
the  new  volume.  For  this  new  volume  the 
publisher  will,  therefore,  be  encouraged  to 
suggest  a  higher  purchase  price  than  would 
be  warranted  for  a  production  <5f  equal  literary 
ability  the  author  of  which  was  not  at  that 
time  known  to  the  book-trade  and  to  the 
reading  public  in  connection  with  a  set  of 
earlier  books  in  continued  demand. 

The  counsel  of  the  literary  agent  is  naturally 
and  almost  of  necessity  in  favor  of  securing  a 
different  purchaser — ^that  is  to  say,  a  diff"erent 
publisher,  for  each  successive  work.  If  an 
author's  relations  with  his  original  publisher 
continue  satisfactory,  so  that  the  successive 
books  are  issued  under  the  same  general  ar- 
rangement as  to  terms  which  have  been  found 
equitable  for  the  preceding  books,  or  with 
such  modifications  of  these  terms  as  may  be 
warranted  on  the  ground  of  the  increase  in 
the  author's  circle  of  readers,  and  therefore, 
in  the  commercial  value  of  his  writings,  the 
agent  is  not  in  a  position  to  earn  from  the 
works  of  this  particular  author  any  commis- 


fntereet 
of  tbe 

Butboc 
in 

Continued 
Sales 


132 


Hutbors  anC)  publisbecs 


fntereet 
of  tbc 
Haent 


sions.  His  business  must  of  necessity  de- 
pend, as  far  at  least  as  books  are  concerned 
(that  is  to  say,  exclusive  of  his  trade  in 
serials),  in  "pulling  his  clients  up  by  the 
roots."  For  his  interest  it  is  important  that 
the  author  should  be  kept  in  a  state  of  reiter- 
ated dissatisfaction.  An  author  who  has 
selected  as  his  business  agent  a  publisher 
whose  methods  he  finds  satisfactory,  and 
with  whom  his  relations  through  increasing 
years  prove  increasingly  remunerative,  does 
not  form  the  material  out  of  which  the  clients 
of  the  literary  agent  are  made.  The  larger 
the  number  of  the  publishers  among  whom 
the  works  of  one  author  can  be  distributed, 
the  greater  the  aggregate  of  the  commissions 
coming  to  the  literary  agent  through  the  sale 
of  these  works. 

The  agency  system  has  not  yet  taken  any 
very  considerable  part  in  the  publishing  rela- 
tions in  the  United  States.  American  authors 
have,  for  the  most  part,  found  it  to  their  ad- 
vantage to  select  their  own  publishers,  and 
after  once  establishing  with  a  publisher  satis- 
factory relations,  they  have  also  realized  the 
advantage  of  preserving  those  relations.  It  is 
my  impression  that  the  same  may  be  said  of 
German  authors,  while  I  understand  that  in 
Paris  the  literary  agent  has,  during  the  past 
few  years,  developed  in  importance.  It  is, 
however,  in  England  that  the  literary  agent 


TLbc  Xiterars  Haent 


^33 


has  succeeded  in  convincing  the  largest  group 
of  authors  of  the  value  of  his  services,  and 
with  the  aid  of  the  valuable  influence  of  the 
Society  of  Authors,  and  of  its  journal,  The 
Author,  the  agent  has,  during  the  past  few 
years,  secured  an  increasing  proportion  of  the 
business  of  British  writers,  principally  that  of 
the  writers  of  fiction. 

It  is,  as  already  pointed  out,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  fiction  that  his  service  is  likely  to 
prove  most  convenient  and  most  valuable, 
and  it  is  in  fact  the  case,  in  connection  not 
only  with  the  employment  of  the  literary 
agent  but  with  many  other  details  of  publish- 
ing arrangements,  that  the  writers  of  fiction 
are  rather  in  the  habit  of  referring  to  arrange- 
ments for  novels  as  the  basis  for  publishing 
precedents.  It  is  quite  common  to  find  in  the 
discussions  carried  on  in  The  Author,  and  in 
other  periodicals  giving  consideration  to  the 
business  questions  of  literature,  references  to 
fiction  as  being  so  important  a  division  of 
literature  that  it  can  fairly  be  accepted  as  re- 
presenting literature  as  a  whole.  It  can  be  said 
in  support  of  this  view  that  the  large  circu- 
lation that  can  be  secured  for  popular  fiction 
gives  to  this  division  of  literature  a  commer- 
cial importance  greater  than  that  possessed  by 
any  other  class  of  literary  productions  ;  while 
it  is  also  true  that  by  far  the  larger  proportion 
of  issues  and  questions  that  have  arisen  in 


-Cbc 
Hgencs 
Scetem 


134 


Htttbors  ant)  publtsbers 


fiction 
ptopettie 


connection  with  publishing  relations  and  pub- 
lishing conditions  have  come  up  in  connection 
with  works  of  fiction. 

It  is,  however,  sometimes  overlooked  by 
writers  of  fiction  who  are  attempting  to  frame 
publishing  systems  and  publishing  regula- 
tions that  will  eliminate  all  the  iniquities  and 
injustices  under  which  authors  have  hereto- 
fore suffered,  that  in  not  a  few  respects  the 
conditions  and  the  requirements  for  publica- 
tion of  fiction  differ  very  radically  from  those 
obtaining  with  other  classes  of  literature.  I 
consider  it  worth  while  to  point  out  that 
it  would  not  always  be  safe  for  the  writer 
of  history,  or  poetry,  or  text-books,  or  of 
works  of  science  to  accept  as  certainly  safe 
guides  for  the  management  of  his  own 
publishing  relations  the  principles  which 
have  been  laid  down  and  the  contentions 
which  have  been  raised  (chiefly  by  writers 
of  fiction)  for  the  guidance  of  producers  of 
"literature." 

The  work  of  the  literary  agent  is  more 
likely  to  begin  in  connection  not  with  the  first 
but  with  the  second  book  of  a  young  author. 
Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  neces- 
sarily speculative  character  of  the  task  under- 
taken by  the  publisher  when  he  brings  before 
the  public  as  an  investment  of  his  own  a  first 
book  by  an  author  whose  name  is  not  already 
familiar  to  the   readers   and  the   buyers  of 


XTbe  Xiterarp  Haent 


135 


books.  Such  a  statement  can,  of  course,  at 
once  be  met  with  the  citation  of  a  number 
of  first  books  which  secured  a  very  large 
measure  of  popular  favor,  such  as  Jane  Eyre, 
the  Wide  Wide  World,  and  many  others  ;  but 
such  noteworthy  exceptions  constitute  but  a 
trifling  proportion  of  the  class.  I  use  the  term 
first  books  here,  not  necessarily  to  designate 
the  volumes  that  were  first  written,  but  those 
which  first  came  into  the  hands  of  the  pub- 
lishers, and  through  them  were  brought  before 
the  public.  It  is  not  always  borne  in  mind, 
and  it  is,  in  fact,  very  difficult  to  keep  in  mind, 
how  large  is  the  proportion  of  first  books  which 
appeared  to  possess  more  or  less  promise  and 
to  be  characterized  by  literary  quality,  and 
which  the  public,  nevertheless,  refused  to  buy 
in  remunerative  quantities.  When  it  is  fur- 
ther remembered  that  the  books  accepted  and 
printed  form  but  a  very  small  proportion  (it 
has  been  estimated  as  less  than  one  tenth)  of 
those  that  are  offered  for  print,  it  will  be  real- 
ized that  the  task  of  the  publisher  in  sifting 
his  first  books  is  by  no  means  an  easy  one; 
while  the  statistics  of  publishing  will  show 
that  the  percentage  of  these  volumes  which 
secure  a  remunerative  sale  for  themselves,  and 
which  prove  to  be  really  forerunners  of  an 
assured  and  continuous  reputation  for  their 
writers,  is  very  small  indeed. 
We  will  assume,  however,  for  the  purpose 


Xfterarc 
Hgente 

an^ 
IBoung 

Butbore 


136  Hutbors  an&  publtsbers 


fwst  of  our  illustration,  that  some  one  of  such 
»ooii8  volumes,  one  out  of  ten  or  of  twenty,  has 
won  for  itself  a  favorable  reception  from  the 
critics  and  from  the  reading  public,  a  recep- 
tion which  gives  promise  of  larger  circles  of 
readers  for  the  later  and  more  mature  work 
of  the  author.  It  is  at  this  point,  when  the 
author  is  first  beginning  to  enjoy  the  very  en- 
viable satisfaction  of  favorable  reviews  and  of 
encouraging  personal  mention,  that  he  is 
likely  to  receive  suggestions  from  the  literary 
agent  who  will  be  "interested  in  taking 
charge,  on  the  author's  behalf,  of  the  business 
arrangements  for  his  future  works."  It  is 
quite  probable  that  the  publishing  arrange- 
ment for  the  first  volume  has  not  been  for  the 
author  a  very  remunerative  one.  As  before 
explained,  under  the  conditions  and  the  risks 
inevitable  in  connection  with  the  publication 
of  first  books,  the  publisher  would  not,  as  a 
rule,  be  warranted  in  making  with  the  au- 
thor an  arrangement  that  would  be  called 
"liberal."  If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  second 
book  tends  to  confirm  the  publisher's  impres- 
sion that  this  particular  author  has  "come  to 
stay,"  and  that  his  work  is  likely  to  possess 
increasing  value,  the  publisher  can  very  well 
afford  to  make  for  the  second  book  more 
remunerative  terms ;  and  the  author  is,  on  his 
part,  with  the  favorable  reviews  and  with  the 
statistics  of  sales  of  the  first  book  to  refer  to. 


Ubc  Xiterary  Hgent 


137 


fully  warranted  in  demanding  a  more  favor- 
able arrangement. 

It  is,  however,  frequently  not  diflicult  at  this 
state  for  the  literary  broker  to  convince  the 
author  that  his  first  publisher  has  not  done 
him  justice,  and  that  if  the  second  and  suc- 
ceeding volumes  are  placed  in  the  hands 
of  an  enterprising  agent,  he  will  be  able  to 
secure  for  the  author  more  satisfactory  returns 
than  could  be  expected  from  the  original  pub- 
lisher. It  occasionally  happens,  on  the  strength 
of  such  suggestions,  that  the  manuscript  placed 
in  the  hands  of  the  agent  is  first  taken  to  all 
the  other  publishers  who  may  possibly  be  in- 
terested, and  is  then  brought  back  to  the 
original  publisher  with  the  word  that  he  can 
have  the  opportunity  of  getting  control  of  it 
if  he  will  make  an  offer  better  than  any  other 
that  the  agent  can  quote  to  him.  It  also  occa- 
sionally happens  that  publishers  beginning 
business  and  having  some  money  to  spend, 
are  so  far  interested  in  getting  novelties  for 
their  ^ists  and  in  coming  into  relations  with 
authors  that  are  being  talked  about,  that  they 
are  willing  to  pay  for  books  higher  prices  or 
higher  royalties  than  can  safely  be  afforded 
under  the  conditions  of  the  market  or  than  are 
likely  to  be  offset  by  the  sales.  They  also 
have  the  advantage  in  outbidding  publisher 
number  one,  that  an  important  part  of  the 
preliminary  work  of  the  advertising  and  of 


later 
Xiterars 
Ventures 


138 


Hutbors  ant)  pubUsbers 


Cbanges 
in  pub* 
liebing 

Brrangca 
mentfl 


emphasizing  the  importance  of  the  author's 
work  has  already  been  done.  Under  this 
class  of  competition,  the  original  publisher 
may  very  easily  decide  that  he  is  unwilling  to 
enter  into  such  a  contest  at  all,  or  that  it  is  not 
good  business  for  him  to  take  the  risk  of  any 
such  speculative  bargains  as  have  tempted  his 
younger  rivals.  The  second  book  is  therefore 
published  by  a  second  publisher.  If,  as  will 
probably  be  the  case,  it  is  a  better  literary  pro- 
duction than  the  first,  it  should  secure  a  better 
reception  from  the  public  and  a  larger  sale. 
The  literary  agent  is  then  in  a  position  to  point 
out  to  the  author  the  value  of  his  suggestions 
and  of  his  services  in  rescuing  him  from  the 
hands  of  his  original  "unenterprising"  pub- 
lisher and  in  securing  for  him  the  imprint  of  a 
more  satisfactory  House.  A  year  later,  when 
a  third  book  is  in  readiness,  the  suggestion  of 
a  change  may  again  be  made,  and  if  the  rest- 
less author  can  be  persuaded  that  further  ex- 
perimenting may  be  desirable,  a  third  publish- 
ing relation  is  entered  into  and  the  agent  has 
another  commission  to  his  credit.  For  the 
agent  the  business  is  satisfactory.  For  the 
author  there  may  also  be  an  apparent  gain,  as 
it  is,  of  course,  possible  that  he  may  have  been 
rescued  from  the  hands  of  an  untrustworthy 
or  incapable  publisher,  or  that  each  transfer 
may  have  brought  him  into  the  hands  of  a 
publishing  House  that  is  better  fitted  to  take 


Ube  Xiterars  Haent  139 


charge  of  his  particular  class  of  productions,  »ooi50 
and  from  which  he  does  in  fact  secure  better  ijf^/t« 
returns.  It  is  equally  possible,  however,  that 
his  permanent  interests  would  have  been  bet- 
ter cared  for  by  the  original  publisher,  who  had 
first  been  ready  to  show  confidence  in  his 
capacity  and  to  back  such  confidence  with  his 
money  ;  and  that  in  beginning  the  practice  of 
scattering  his  literary  work,  he  is  throwing 
away  the  opportunity  of  building  up  with  a 
set  of  his  works,  a  literary  property  of  con- 
tinued and  increasing  value. 

It  will  be  evident  from  the  above  summary 
that  an  author  who  has  decided  to  confide  to 
an  agent  the  management  of  his  literary  busi- 
ness, will  need  to  exercise  a  full  measure  of 
care  and  caution  in  the  selection  of  his  repre- 
sentative. An  untrustworthy  broker,  may, 
under  the  incentive  of  possible  commissions, 
cause  no  little  injury  to  the  final  interests  of 
the  literary  producer. 

Misinformation,  or  misleading  information 
concerning  the  actual  status  of  the  market,  the 
real  value  of  the  service  rendered  by  publisher 
A,  the  prospects  of  more  profitable  arrange- 
ments with  B,  C,  and  D,  may  not  infrequently 
induce  an  author  to  bring  to  a  close  a  publish- 
ing connection  which  it  would  have  been 
much  wiser  for  him  to  have  retained.  As 
before  pointed  out,  the  higher  rate  of  royalty, 
or  even  the  larger  advance  payment,  does  not 


140 


autbors  ant>  ipublisbers 


Ube 

IRespon* 

sibiUtiea 

of  tbe 

Bgent 


always  mean  the  largest  total  return.  The 
figures  submitted  by  a  literary  agent  to  an 
author  concerning  the  actual  cost  of  publishing 
a  book,  figures  upon  which  may  be  based  the 
charge  that  publisher  A  is  securing  an  undue 
share  of  the  profits,  need  also  to  be  subjected 
to  at  least  as  careful  an  analysis  as  should  be 
given  to  similar  figures  submitted  by  the  pub- 
lisher himself. 

A  literary  agent  who  has  brought  together 
as  his  clients  a  group  of  the  popular  authors 
of  the  day,  who  have  been  willing  to  confide 
their  books  to  his  management,  might  well  be 
tempted  to  utilize  some  of  the  valuable  literary 
material  at  his  command  as  the  foundations 
for  a  publishing  business  of  his  own.  I  do 
not,  however,  find  record  in  England,  where 
during  the  past  decade  the  literary  agency 
business  has  developed  most  largely,  of  any 
recent  transformations  of  agents  into  publish- 
ers, and  there  is,  I  think,  ground  for  the  infer- 
ence that  there  is  a  more  satisfactory  and  more 
assured  profit  to  be  secured  from  authors' 
commissions  than  from  the  more  speculative 
gains,  tempered  {pace,  Sir  Walter)  by  the  very 
decided  risks,  of  the  publishing  business. 

A  retired  publisher,  who  has  had  a  full  range 
of  experience  in  the  business  of  planning, 
printing,  and  of  selling  (or  of  trying  to  sell) 
books,  should  possess  some  very  desirable 
qualifications  and  experience  that  should  make 


Ube  Xiterars  Hgent 


141 


him  a  trustworthy  agent  and  counsellor  for 
literary  producers,  but  he  would  of  course  be 
open  to  the  objection  of  being,  almost  of 
necessity,  a  pessimist.  He  would,  therefore, 
with  a  keener  sense  of  the  limitations  of  pub- 
lishing and  of  bookselling,  find  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  talking  to  his  authors  with  suffi- 
ciently hopeful  prophecies,  while  he  would 
also  be  hampered  in  "  laying  down  the  law" 
to  publishers  as  to  the  precise  number  of  copies 
of  a  book  that  could  be  sold  "  if  properly  han- 
dled," and  as  to  the  proper  proportion  of  the 
possible  profit  that  must  be  paid  in  advance. 
I  have  thus  far  referred  only  to  the  business 
considerations  that  are  connected  with  the 
purchase  and  the  sale  of  literary  productions. 
It  seems  to  me  further,  however,  that  an 
almost  inevitable  result  of  the  work  of  the 
literary  agent  must  be  to  destroy,  not  neces- 
sarily, the  friendship  between  authors  and 
publishers  as  individuals,  but  the  personal 
relations  which  come  into  being  between 
authors  and  publishers  who  have  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  had  business  associations  to- 
gether, and  who  through  these  associations 
have  learned  to  trust  and  to  honor  each 
other.  The  history  of  literature  gives  not 
a  few  instances  of  such  relations,  which 
have  been  honorable  alike  to  authors  and 
to  their  business  managers.  Among  the  ear- 
lier publishers  who  gathered  about  themselves 


Ube 
IRequicea 
ment0 
of  an 
Hgent 


142 


Butbora  an^  publisbers 


personal 
IRelations 

of 

Butbors 

an^  puba 

Itobere 


literary  workers  who  became  also  close  busi- 
ness friends,  were  men  like  Aldus,  whose 
records  and  whose  correspondence  show 
how  close  were  the  friendly  relations  between 
himself  and  writers  like  Musurus,  or  Reuch- 
lin.  Later,  we  have  the  case  of  Froben  of 
Basel,  whose  most  noted  author,  Erasmus 
(himself  credited  with  a  full  measure  of  both 
exactingness  and  avarice),  writes  of  his  pub- 
lisher in  the  most  enthusiastic  terms,  and  says 
that  the  only  ground  of  difference  he  had 
ever  had  with  Froben  was  due  to  his  unwill- 
ingness to  accept  from  his  publisher  larger 
payments  than  he  believed  had  been  fairly 
earned  by  his  books.  Estienne  of  Paris,  Ko- 
berger  of  Nuremberg,  Plantin  of  Antwerp, 
Louis  Elzevir  of  Ley  den,  are  a  few  of  the  long 
list  of  publishers  whose  lives  give  interesting 
record  of  long-continued  relations  with  valued 
circles  of  authors,  authors  who  were  fully  ready 
to  confide  to  their  publishing  friends  the  busi- 
ness interests  connected  with  their  literary 
work.  A  similar  list  could  be  prolonged 
through  later  generations  of  publishers  and 
authors  down  to  the  present  day,  a  list 
which  would  include  such  names  as  Perthes 
of  Hamburg,  with  his  great  group  of  authors 
who  were  life-long  friends  ;  John  Murray  (the 
second)  the  centre  of  the  famous  literary 
circle  which  included  such  writers  as  Byron, 
Southey,  and  Coleridge  ;  the  Macmillans  with 


Ube  Xiterars  Hgent 


143 


Hare,  Kingsley,  and  others  ;  George  P.  Put- 
nam in  his  relations  with  men  like  Washing- 
ton Irving,  Fenimore  Cooper,  and  Bayard 
Taylor;  the  Longmans,  with  Macaulay;  James 
T.  Fields,  author  and  publisher,  with  his 
group  of  clients,  all  of  whom  were  personal 
friends,  a  group  which  included  Emerson, 
Lowell,  Holmes,  Whittier,  and  Hawthorne. 
In  fact,  the  list  of  publishers  of  this  class  might 
be  indefinitely  prolonged. 

The  following  extract  from  the  life  of 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes,  by  John  T.  Morse, 
gives  an  indication  of  the  views  held  both  by 
the  genial  Autocrat  and  by  his  biographer  on 
the  matter  of  publishing  relations  : 

".  .  .  So,  in  this  matter  of  publishing 
his  books,  he  had  the  good  sense  to  avoid 
that  jealous  and  quarrelling  habit  of  authors, 
which  leads  them  so  often  to  the  flattering 
fancy  that  their  publishers  are  growing  rich 
on  the  product  of  their  brains,  while  they 
themselves  are  put  off  with  a  scanty  paring 
of  their  just  rewards.  It  was  sound  worldly, 
or  practical,  wisdom  which  made  him  be- 
lieve, and  consistently  act  on  the  belief,  that 
in  the  long  run  he  could  do  better  by  keeping 
the  interests  of  the  publishers  and  himself 
permanently  united,  than  he  could  do  by 
squabbling  about  payments  or  copyrights,  by 
seeking  competitive  bids,  and  splitting  up  his 
allegiance,  so  that  no  one  firm  should  have 


Ube 

Earlier 

pubs 

lisbers 


144 


Htttbors  ant)  ipublisbers 


TTbe 
pMitfon 

of 
f>oImee 


that  sense  of  loyalty,  good-feeling,  and  a 
common  interest,  which  means  more  in  busi- 
ness than  is  sometimes  supposed."  ' 

There  would  certainly  have  been  an  incon- 
gruity in  having  the  Autocrat  of  the  Break- 
fast Table,  brought  before  the  public  with 
one  imprint,  and  his  "twin-cousin,"  the 
Professor,  sponsored  by  another. 

It  is,  of  course,  true,  as  before  said,  that 
even  when  the  system  prevails  under  which 
every  new  book,  while  still  in  manuscript,  is 
put  up  at  auction  for  the  bids  of  competing 
publishers,  or  is  carried  about  by  the  literary 
worker  from  publishing  office  to  publishing 
office,  so  that  the  author  will  perhaps  in  the 
end  have  as  many  publishers  as  he  has  books, 
personal  friendships  between  authors  and 
publishers  may  still  be  possible  ;  but  these 
personal  friendships  can,  under  such  con- 
ditions, hardly  arise  as  the  result  of  their 
business  relations.  The  formation  of  a  liter- 
ary circle  which  shall  be  connected  with 
some  specific  publishing  office  as  its  centre, 
the  bringing  together  into  one  group,  possess- 
ing a  certain  distinctive  character  of  its  own, 
of  noteworthy  writers  whose  works  will  ex- 
press some  definite  publishing  policy,  and 
who  will  themselves  find  pleasure  and  ad- 
vantage in  their  association  with  their  pub- 


'  Memoirs  of  Holmes,  i.,  223. 


Ube  Xtterari?  agent 


145 


lisher  and  with  each  other,  must,  if  not 
rendered  entirely  impracticable,  necessarily  be 
not  a  little  interfered  with  and  lessened.  The 
loss  to  the  publisher  and  the  interference  with 
a  continuity  of  publishing  policy  is  very  evi- 
dent. 

There  must  also  be,  in  my  judgment,  no 
little  corresponding  loss  to  the  authors  them- 
selves in  failing  to  keep  in  touch  with  a 
business  counsellor  who  has  an  increasing 
knowledge  of  the  author's  capacities  and  pos- 
sibilities on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  author's 
public  on  the  other,  and  who  has  an  interest 
both  as  trustee  for  the  author  and  on  the 
ground  of  his  own  business  investments,  in 
guiding  the  author's  work  in  such  manner 
that  it  shall,  throughout  the  entire  term  of  his 
working  years,  be  made  increasingly  effective. 
The  history  of  literary  production  is  full  of  ex- 
amples of  service  of  this  kind,  such  for  in- 
stance as  George  P.  Putnam  was  able  to 
render  to  Irving  and  as  was  given  by  Murray 
to  so  many  of  the  writers  about  him.  The 
memoirs  of  men  like  Perthes,  Murray,  and 
Constable,  and  others,  give  examples  also  of 
service  of  another  kind  which  authors  have 
occasionally  found  important.  When  a  pub- 
lisher has  in  his  charge  the  entire  business 
interests  of  an  author,  and  is  in  a  position, 
from  the  results  of  previous  years  to  arrive  at 
some  trustworthy  calculation  as  to  the  value 


Ube 
fiublieber 

asa 
Counsellor 


146 


Hutbors  anD  publisbers 


Scott  anb 
Conetable 


as  property  of  the  author's  productions,  he  is 
in  a  position  from  time  to  time,  if  necessity 
may  arise,  to  discount  for  the  author  the 
value  of  profits  not  yet  earned.  Authors  have 
frequently  enough  been  helped  over  "tight 
places  "  by  publishers  who  are  under  no  con- 
tract obligations  to  make  advances,  but  who, 
nevertheless,  might  (entirely  apart  from  a 
friendly  feeling  or  personal  sympathy)  feel 
warranted,  simply  on  business  grounds,  in 
placing  funds  at  the  disposal  of  an  author 
who  could  be  called  their  author,  whose 
present  books  were  in  their  control,  and 
whose  future  writings  they  could  expect  also 
to  receive. 

It  is  true  also  that  in  a  number  of  such  in- 
stances the  friendliness  or  optimism  of  the 
publisher  has  not  been  justified  and  the  ad- 
vances have  not  been  repaid.  There  are  vari- 
ous references  in  the  life  of  John  Murray  (the 
second)  to  payments  of  advances  which  were 
never  offset  by  the  literary  work  from  the 
results  of  which  they  were  to  have  been 
repaid.  The  indebtedness  of  Scott  to  the 
publisher  Constable,  for  the  amount  of  ;^io,- 
000,  an  amount  which  would,  as  it  was 
calculated,  have  been  sufficient  to  save  Con- 
stable from  bankruptcy,  is  one  of  the  famous 
instances  in  English  publishing  history.  The 
majority  of  such  instances,  however,  naturally 
remain  uncommemorated.     I  do  not  know 


XTbe  Xlterari?  agent 


147 


that  this  phase  of  publishing  relations  is  in 
any  case  a  very  desirable  one  to  perpetuate, 
but  it  is  in  order  to  recall  that  in  past  years, 
authors  have  attached  some  importance  to  it, 
and  have  found  a  convenience  in  it  ;  and 
I  point  out  further  that  the  possibility  of 
such  accommodation  must  of  necessity  pass 
away,  or  be  very  materially  diminished 
when  the  continued  relations  between  a  pub- 
lisher and  his  author  becomes  a  thing  of  the 
past. 

There  is,  of  course,  a  further  consideration 
on  the  other  side  of  the  question.  Personal 
relations  are  pleasant,  and  are  sometimes  pro- 
ductive of  very  distinctive  advantages,  both 
personal  and  business,  to  both  parties.  There 
may,  however,  at  times  be  a  decided  disad- 
vantage in  confusing  or  in  mixing  up  with 
such  relations  business  conditions  and  busi- 
ness obligations.  If,  on  the  ground  of  friend- 
ly intimacy,  there  comes  to  be  a  slackness  or 
lack  of  precision  in  business  engagements  ; 
if,  because  author  and  publisher  are  personal 
friends,  important  business  undertakings  are 
entered  upon  without  specific  contracts  ;  if 
the  publisher,  on  the  one  hand,  makes  in- 
definite advances  without  knowing  what 
really  may  be  due  to  his  client,  while,  on  the 
other,  the  author  secures  indefinite  advances 
without  knowing  whether  he  has  earned  the 
money  or  not ;  if,  in  any  of  the  great  variety 


precfeion 

in 
3Bu0inee0 
IRelations 


148 


Hutbors  an&  publtsbers 


0bip  and 
JSusiness 


of  ways  in  which  business  rights  can  become 
business  wrongs,  there  has  been  a  failure  to 
carry  on  the  undertaking  on  strictly  business 
conditions,  the  result  of  friendly  relations  may 
be  a  misfortune  instead  of  a  gain.  On  this 
point  I  am  in  full  accord  with  Sir  Walter 
Besant.  An  author  ought  not  to  be  put  in 
the  position  of  being  grateful  for  the  payment 
of  moneys  which  are  actually  his  own  pro- 
perty. The  term  "  liberal "  does  not  properly 
find  place  in  the  description  of  an  equitable 
publishing  arrangement,  or  of  the  business 
methods  under  which  such  an  arrangement  is 
carried  out.  The  author  is  a  producer  who 
is  planning  to  place  his  productions  in  the 
market,  and  who  needs  for  the  purpose  a 
business  agent  or  representative  who  under- 
stands the  conditions  of  the  market,  who 
possesses  the  requisite  capital  for  putting  the 
production  into  marketable  shape,  and  who 
possesses  further  the  publishing  machinery 
for  reaching,  not  one  local  market  only,  but 
all  the  circles  of  readers  who  may  possibly  be 
interested.  In  addition  to  this  purely  busi- 
ness service,  in  which  the  publisher  takes  the 
work  of  a  capitalist,  a  patent  manufacturer, 
and  of  a  general  distributing  agent,  the  pub- 
lisher renders  also  to  his  client  a  professional 
service  like  that  of  a  legal  adviser.  His  coun- 
sel is  often  important  for  the  author  in  the 
shaping  of  the  author's   work   and  in  the 


Ube  Xiterars  Saent 


149 


directing  of  his  capacities.  This  counsel  may, 
in  fact,  sometimes  take  the  more  important 
responsibility  of  initiating  and  of  planning 
from  the  outset  the  literary  undertaking 
which  the  author  has  to  execute.  In  all  these 
relations,  however,  the  two  parties  have  di- 
rect business  responsibilities  and,  whether 
friends  or  strangers,  they  should  deal  with 
each  other  in  accordance  with  the  strictest 
business  principles  and  with  the  fullest  ob- 
servance of  business  detail  in  connection  with 
such  matters  as  contracts,  payments,  delivery 
of  wares,  etc. 

Here  also,  however,  the  obligation  is  two- 
fold. A  publisher  can  very  properly  be  com- 
pelled by  the  courts  to  fulfil  the  conditions  of 
a  contract  under  which  he  has  agreed  to  make 
certain  payments  or  to  do  certain  other  things. 
The  author  is  in  a  position,  if  these  obligations 
are  not  carried  out,  not  only  to  utilize  the 
courts,but  to  bring  to  bear  upon  the  delinquent, 
through  authors' societies,  literary  journals,  and 
in  other  ways,  the  full  opprobrium  of  public 
opinion.  The  task  of  the  publisher,  in  secur- 
ing from  a  procrastinating,  or  slovenly,  or  dis- 
honest author  the  fulfilment  of  the  author's 
obligations  under  the  agreement,  is  a  much 
more  difllcult  one.  This  matter  has  been 
considered  in  another  chapter. 

I  do  not  admit,  however,  that  intimate  per- 
sonal relations  or  ties  of  friendship  need  be 


«bip  anb 
3Busineee 


ISO 


Hutbors  ant)  pu&lisbers 


Ubc 

Ideal 

Brrange* 

ment 


permitted  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  precise 
business  methods.  There  is  no  possible  rea- 
son why  two  friends  having  business  together, 
should  not  carry  on  such  business  under  as 
precise  contracts  as  would  be  expected  be- 
tween men  who  had  previous  to  their  business 
intercourse  been  strangers  to  each  other;  while 
there  is  every  reason  why  men  who  through 
their  business  relations  have  become  friends, 
should  be  particularly  careful  in  fulfilling  con- 
scientiously all  obligations  entered  into  with 
each  other.  It  is  also  to  be  borne  in  mind 
that  the  risk  of  death  must  be  provided  for, 
and  on  this  ground  if  on  no  other,  a  business 
arrangement  ought  not  to  be  left  in  the  form 
of  an  understanding,  but  should  be  fully  ex- 
pressed in  a  contract. 

The  ideal  publishing  arrangement  for  both 
author  and  publisher  seems  to  me  to  be  that 
on  which  the  author  selects,  with  due  caution 
and  under  good  counsel,  a  publisher  who  is  in 
a  position  to  take  charge  of  his  books  effect- 
ively, in  whom  he  is  prepared  to  place  confid- 
ence and  who,  as  the  association  continues, 
comes  to  feel  an  increasing  personal  interest 
in  both  the  books  and  the  author,  and  who 
places  at  the  disposal  of  the  author  a  full  meas- 
ure of  skilled  professional  co-operation  and  of 
friendly  personal  service.  With  such  pub- 
lisher the  author  makes  contracts,  clear  and 
specific  in  their  provisions,  which  contracts 


Ube  Xiterars  Haent 


151 


will  be  repeated  for  each  later  book  with  such 
modifications  as  the  increasing  value  of  the 
author's  productions  as  a  literary  property  may 
render  equitable.  Such  increase  in  value 
( based  upon  the  larger  circles  of  readers  that 
are  being  reached  with  the  successive  books ) 
while  chiefly,  of  course,  due  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  literary  power  and  quality  of  the 
author,  must  in  part  also  be  credited  to  the 
skill  and  care  contributed  by  the  publisher  to 
the  management  of  the  growing  literary  pro- 
perty. With  such  satisfactory  results  for  his 
labors,  the  author  is  well  satisfied  to  leave  all 
his  books  ( or  at  least  all  his  books  of  the  same 
general  class )  in  the  hands  of  one  publisher, 
and  will  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  the  series 
of  his  productions  finally  described  and  cata- 
logued as  "works." 

From  such  an  association  the  author  will 
not  easily  allow  himself  to  be  diverted  by 
the  plausible  suggestions  of  the  literary  agent 
concerning  "  larger  rates  of  royalty  "  or  "larger 
advances  "  which  can  be  secured  from  other 
Houses.  He  will  understand  that  the  con- 
venience of  a  larger  cash  advance  may  be 
dearly  paid  for  if  it  is  to  be  the  cause  of 
breaking  up  the  publication  of  his  books,  in 
uniform  sets,  as  "works"  ;  and  he  will  have 
learned  that  the  offer  by  some  new  concern 
of  higher  royalties  may  not  necessarily  mean 
larger  final  returns,   as  the  new  publisher. 


t>etm 
manencc 

of 
Uenure 


152  Htttbors  an&  pubUsbers 

ube  without  the  direct  knowledge  of  the  special 
minHt)  public  to  be  reached  and  with  possibly  smaller 
Hutbor  trade  facilities  and  connections,  may  very  easily 
fail  to  secure  for  the  new  book  as  large  or  as 
continued  sales  as  could  have  been  depended 
upon  if  it  had  been  issued  in  connection 
with  the  preceding  volumes  of  the  author's 
works. 

The  intelligent  and  fair-minded  author,  who, 
after  an  association  extending  over  years,  has 
learned  to  place  confidence  in  his  publisher,  will 
not  hastily  decide  that  because  some  particular 
season  shows  a  decrease  in  the  demand  for  his 
books  as  a  whole,  or  because  the  latest  volume 
finds  fewer  readers  than  those  which  preceded 
it,  there  must  certainly  be  inefficiency  or  un- 
satisfactory management  on  the  part  of  the 
publisher.  A  number  of  causes  may  have 
contributed  to  bring  about  the  disappointing 
results.  The  year  may  have  brought  with  it 
some  special  disasters  or  difficulties  affecting 
the  general  business  conditions  of  the  country, 
in  which  case  the  business  of  selling  books, 
always  easily  impaired  by  adverse  influences, 
will  necessarily  have  suffered  ;  there  may  have 
been  some  material  change  in  the  tastes  or  in- 
terests of  the  book-buying  public,  which  is, 
especially  in  the  United  States,  a  fitful  and  fickle 
portion  of  the  community  whose  demands  are 
not  easily  to  be  predicated  ;  or  the  interest 
of  the  community  in  the  special  class  of  litera- 


Ube  aiterarg  agent 


153 


ture  in  question  having  continued,  there  may 
have  been  placed  upon  the  market  an  over- 
supply  of  books  prepared  to  meet  the  demand. 
The  sponge  becomes  saturated  and  certain 
v^orks,  or  portions  of  the  editions  of  certain 
works,  remain  unsold  ;  or  finally  (a  sad,  but 
quite  possible  contingency),  the  literary  qual- 
ity of  the  author's  work  may  have  begun  to 
deteriorate,  so  that  the  later  volumes  are  not 
so  good  as  the  earlier  ones.  The  author  has 
exhausted  his  special  vein,  and  has  lost  his 
hold  on  the  public.  This  means  disappoint- 
ment for  both  author  and  publisher,  but  does 
not  necessarily  show  that  the  publisher  is  a 
villain  or  that  he  has  neglected  his  responsibil- 
ities. 

As  I  have  stated  elsewhere,  I  assume  that  in 
every  properly  regulated  publishing  office,  the 
author  is  afforded  every  facility  for  securing 
information  concerning  the  actual  history  of 
his  undertakings.  The  records  of  the  editions 
printed  and  bound  and  the  annual  inventories 
of  the  stock  on  hand  (in  warehouses,  agencies, 
and  binderies)  should,  at  all  convenient  times, 
be  placed  at  his  disposal,  so  that  he  may  have 
before  him  the  figures  which  serve  as  vouch- 
ers for  the  annual  statements  of  sales.  With 
these  figures  before  him,  showing  what  books 
have  been  manufactured  and  what  sales  have 
been  secured,  and  with  the  knowledge  that 
the  publisher  has  a  very  direct  interest  in  doing 


statistics 

of 
coitions 


X 


154 


Hutbors  anD  publisbers 


y 


statistics 

of 
SMtions 


all  that  may  be  practicable  to  secure  remuner- 
ative sales,  the  author  will  patiently  accept  any 
discouraging  results  as  inevitable  and  as  due 
to  causes  that  are  beyond  the  control  of  both 
author  and  publisher. 


Htttbors*  H6Boclations. 

VARIOUS  attempts  have  from  time  to  time 
been  made  by  groups  or  associations  of 
authors  to  reach  the  public  directly,  and  thus 
to  save  the  expense  of  the  producing  and  dis- 
tributing agent  or  publisher,  but  no  authors* 
publishing  association  has  thus  far  secured  for 
itself  any  very  long  or  very  successful  exist- 
ence. In  1758,  Lessing  took  an  active  part 
in  organizing  a  publishing  association  among 
certain  of  the  authors  of  North  Germany  who 
had  convinced  themselves  that  the  publishers 
of  their  time  had  been  absorbing  too  large  a 
proportion  of  the  gains  of  literature.  The  so- 
ciety broke  up  after  an  experience  of  a  few 
years,  during  which  time  the  authors  discov- 
ered, first,  that  they  had  materially  underesti- 
mated the  cost  of  bringing  their  books  before 
the  public,  and  second,  that  an  inevitable  item 
of  their  expense  was  the  loss  on  the  books 
that  produced  a  deficiency  instead  of  a  profit, 
a  deficiency  which  of  necessity  served  to  re- 
duce the  gains  on  the  profitable  publications. 


155 


X 


Butbore' 

Bssocfas 

tion 


156  Hutbors  anb  publisbers 

zbe  The  element  of  publishing  fallibility  had  to 
Paris  i^g  pgi^j  for  gygn  although  the  publisher  him- 
tion  self  had  been  eliminated.  This  fallibility  is 
likely  in  fact  to  prove  a  more  serious  item  in 
the  publishing  operations  of  authors  acting 
for  themselves,  than  in  the  undertakings  of 
publishers  acting  as  agents  for  the  authors. 

The  latest  experiments  in  the  direction  of 
authors'  associations  have  been  made  in  Paris 
and  in  New  York.  The  experience  of  these 
two  associations  is,  however,  not  yet  suffi- 
ciently extended  to  enable  the  authors  who 
have  taken  part  in  them  or  other  literary  work- 
ers who  are  interested  in  the  possibility  of 
eliminating  the  publisher,  to  arrive  at  any 
trustworthy  conclusions  as  to  the  business 
results. 

The  authors'  association  of  Paris  was  insti- 
tuted early  in  1896  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
on  publishing  operations,  and  thus  of  avoiding 
the  necessity  of  sharing  with  the  publishers 
proceeds  secured  from  the  sales  of  books. 

The  list  of  authors  who  have  taken  responsi- 
bilities in  connection  with  this  association,  or 
who  have  at  least  permitted  their  names  to  be 
used  in  its  list,  includes  not  a  few  writers 
whose  books  have  secured  literary  prestige 
and  satisfactory  business  results.  The  asso- 
ciation begins  its  operations  with  the  advan- 
tage of  the  experience  of  previous  similar 
attempts,  and  it  is  probable  that  it  will  not 


Hutbors'  Hssocfations 


157 


fail  to  secure  for  its  board  of  management  the 
counsel  and  the  co-operation  of  men  of  busi- 
ness experience.  It  seems  likely,  therefore, 
that  it  will  achieve  a  larger  measure  of  success 
than  has  heretofore  been  attained  by  similar 
associations. 

It  is  probable  that  this  association  in  Paris 
has  served  as  a  suggestion  for  the  similar  pub- 
lishing association  that  was  organized  later  in 
the  same  year  by  certain  authors  in  New  York. 
In  this  society  also  we  find  the  names  of  wri- 
ters who  have  united  with  literary  undertak- 
ings some  business  experience,  and  there  is 
no  reason  why,  with  conservative  and  "  pes- 
simistic "  management,  it  should  not  prove  in 
more  ways  than  one  of  service  to  those  who 
have  taken  part  in  its  organization  and  to 
American  authors  generally. 

Various  suggestions  have  been  made  during 
the  past  few  years  for  the  organization  of  an 
authors'  publishing  association  in  London. 
So  large  a  measure  of  attention  has  been 
given  by  the  authors  of  Great  Britain  (both 
individually  and  through  the  Society  of  Au- 
thors) to  the  analysis  and  criticism  of  the  pub- 
lishing methods  heretofore  practised  and  still 
largely  in  force,  and  to  the  serious  injustice 
brought  upon  the  authors  by  these  methods, 
that  it  would  on  more  grounds  than  one  be 
highly  desirable  for  representative  authors  of 
England  to  come  into  direct  relations  with  the 


B 

Dew  Kork 

BsMciaa 

tion 


158  Hutbors  anD  publfsbers 

ube  business  of  publishing.  It  should  prove  both 
soctett  interesting  and  directly  serviceable  to  the 
Hutbora  business  position  of  the  producers  of  literature 
to  have  practical  application  made  of  certain 
of  the  theories  concerning  the  cost  of  produc- 
ing and  of  distributing  books,  which  are  from 
month  to  month  presented  to  the  literary  pub- 
lic in  a  decidedly  readable,  though  perhaps 
unduly  aggressive,  form  in  the  pages  of  The 
Author,  the  organ  of  the  Society  of  Authors. 
It  will  be  particularly  interesting  to  secure 
evidence  through  the  direct  experience  of  the 
authors  themselves  (whose  testimony  will  not 
be  questioned  by  their  fellow-authors)  on  the 
vexed  question  of  the  extent  of  "risk"  in 
publishing  ventures  and  of  the  influence  upon 
profits  of  the  losses  incurred  through  publish- 
ing fallibility. 

While,  to  speak  frankly,  I  think  it  probable 
that  with  the  earlier  undertakings  of  all  authors' 
publishing  associations  there  will  be  a  full 
measure  of  disappointment,  and  while,  as  is 
always  the  case,  there  must  be  some  expense 
incurred  in  securing  a  business  foundation,  it 
seems  possible  enough  that  with  careful  and 
pessimistic  management,  and  with  a  gradual 
accumulation  of  business  experience,  the  work 
of  authors'  publishing  associations  can  be 
managed  satisfactorily.  There  is  certainly  no 
reason  why  publishers  on  either  side  of  the 
Atlantic  should  be  antagonistic  to  the  opera- 


autbors'  Hssociations 


159 


tions  of  such  associations,  while,  even  if  pub- 
lishers should  find  ground  for  objection,  there 
is,  of  course,  no  reason  why  authors  with  a 
definite  business  purpose  in  view  should  give 
heed  to  such  objections. 

There  will,  in  any  case,  be  more  than  books 
enough  left  for  the  offices  of  the  publishers, 
while  there  will  also  remain  for  the  publishers 
that  entire  division  of  publishing  undertakings 
which  are  planned,  initiated,  and  carried  on 
by  the  publishers  themselves.  The  principal 
satisfaction,  however,  which  the  publisher 
may  feel  in  connection  with  such  business 
enterprises  on  the  part  of  authors,  is  the  cer- 
tainty that  through  these  undertakings  the 
authors  engaged  will  acquire  for  themselves 
an  experience  and  knowledge  in  regard  to  the 
conditions  of  publishing,  the  actual  expenses 
of  publishing,  and  the  risks  of  publishing, 
which  they  could  gain  in  no  other  way. 
With  the  larger  wisdom  secured  by  this  prac- 
tical business  experience,  they  will  be  able  to 
place  valuable  information  at  the  disposal  of 
other  authors  who  have  not  themselves  taken 
direct  part  in  publishing  enterprises.  They 
will  also  be  able  to  arrive  at  fairer  and  more 
trustworthy  conclusions  concerning  the  actual 
conditions  and  limitations  of  the  publishing 
business  as  a  whole,  and  they  will  assuredly 
arrive  at  a  more  equitable  judgment  of  pub- 
lishers as  a  class. 


pub* 

lisbers 

not 

Opponents 


i6o 


J5oar&s  ot  Hrbitratioru 


Brbftcas 
tion  in 

Xiterars 
tunee 


A  MOST  valuable  service  could,  in  my  judg- 
ment, be  rendered  by  a  representative 
body,  like  the  British  Association  of  Authors, 
or  the  SocUte  des  Gens  de  Lettres  of  Paris,  if  it 
would  take  steps  in  conjunction  with  an  equally 
representative  association  of  publishers,  to  in- 
stitute some  such  Board  of  Arbitration  or  Court 
of  Arbitration  as  has  been  suggested  in  a  pre- 
vious section.  To  the  decision  of  such  a 
court  could  safely  be  referred  the  larger  part, 
if  not  all,  of  those  questions  concerning  publish- 
ing relations  or  the  business  status  of  literary 
productions,  which  must,  under  present  con- 
ditions, be  fought  out  in  courts  of  law.  The 
expense  of  arbitration  should  be  much  smaller 
than  that  of  a  lawsuit,  while  it  should  also 
prove  practicable  to  secure  decisions  with 
much  less  delay  than  seems  to  be  inevitable 
in  court  trials,  and  which  interferes  seriously 
with  effective  justice.  The  most  distinctive 
advantage  to  be  looked  for  would,  however, 
be  in  the  personal  knowledge  and  experience 


JSoarbs  ot  arbitration 


i6i 


which  the  authors  and  publishers  acting  as 
arbitrators  would  possess  concerning  the  real 
nature  of  the  matters  at  issue  and  the  prece- 
dents and  customs  connected  with  such  mat- 
ters, a  class  of  knowledge  which  cannot  be 
looked  for  in  the  jury-room  or  on  the  bench 
of  an  ordinary  court  of  justice.  The  author 
or  publisher  who  had  confidence  in  the  justice 
of  his  case  would  certainly  prefer  to  submit 
such  case  to  the  decision  of  his  fellows,  experts 
of  experience,  rather  than  to  the  lottery  of  an 
average  jury. 

Questions  involving  the  interpretations  of 
copyright  law  would  probably  still  have  to  be 
referred  to  the  law  courts,  as  it  would  be  nec- 
essary to  preserve  the  continuity  of  copyright 
decisions,  and  as  it  is  of  course  essential  that 
the  maintenance  of  copyright  property  should 
rest,  not  upon  any  privately  constituted  author- 
ity but  upon  the  law  of  the  land. 


Brbitcaa 

tion  in 

literary 


l62 


»etbo^  npHE  question  as  to  the  most  effective  meth- 
iJf„,        1      ods  for  making  known  to  the  public  the 

tteina  fact  that  a  book  has  been  published  and  for 
keeping  before  the  public  the  further  fact  of 
its  continued  existence,  is  one  of  the  most 
perplexing  problems  in  the  publishing  busi- 
ness and  one,  the  difficulties  of  which  are  fre- 
quently not  realized  by  authors.  Advertising 
may  be  classified  under  direct  and  indirect. 
Under  the  former  heading  would  be  included 
the  printing  of  the  descriptive  title  of  the  book 
in  the  catalogues  and  in  the  special  lists  issued 
by  the  publisher,  the  purchase  of  advertising 
space  in  the  journals  or  magazines,  and  the 
distribution  among  booksellers  and  bookbuy- 
ers  of  show-bills  and  descriptive  circulars. 
Under  the  latter  would  come  the  distribu- 
tion of  copies  for  review,  the  consigning  of 
specimen  copies  to  booksellers  for  sale,  and 
the  work  done  by  travelling  salesmen  in  bring- 
ing the  book  to  the  attention  of  booksellers, 
and  by  canvassers  in  placing  copies  in  the 
hands  of  possible  buyers. 


aovertisina  163 


If  a  book  is  published  at  the  expense  of  the     aktbobe 
author,  the  cost  of  all  direct  advertising  except      ^^^„, 
that  of  printing  the  title  in  the  publisher's  cata-       using 
logues  and  quarterly  lists,  is  charged  to  the  au- 
thor's account,  and  only  such  outlay  is  incurred  as 
he  may  have  authorized.    If,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  investment  in  the  publication  is  borne  by 
the  publisher,  the  cost  of  the  advertising  has  to 
be  paid  by  him,  and  the  decision  as  to  the 
amount  of  expenditure  which  will  be  likely  to 
prove  remunerative  must  rest  on  his  judgment. 

The  leading  publishing  Houses  issue  general 
classified  catalogues  of  their  publications, 
which  are  revised  and  reshaped  about  once  in 
two  years.  It  is  further  customary  to  print, 
usually  in  the  spring  and  autumn  of  each  year, 
separate  lists  of  the  publications  of  the  sea- 
son. The  Houses  with  the  larger  lists  of  pub- 
lications now  make  a  practice  of  issuing  also 
quarterly  bulletins,  in  which  are  printed  in  ad- 
dition to  the  priced  lists  of  titles  of  the  publi- 
cations of  the  quarter,  full  descriptive  analyses 
of  these.  From  such  quarterly  lists  the  titles  of 
those  works  which  seem  likely  to  remain  in 
continued  demand  are  afterwards  transferred 
to  the  general  catalogue. 

These  lists  of  the  issues  of  the  season  or 
quarterly  notes  or  bulletins,  and  from  year  to 
year  the  complete  catalogues,  are  mailed  to 
the  principal  libraries  throughout  the  country, 
to  the  leading  booksellers,  and  to  lists  of  book- 


164 


Hutbors  an&  ipublfsbers 


S>(0tribua 

tfon  of 
Catalogues 


buyers  as  far  as  the  publishers  succeed  in  col- 
lecting the  names  of  such.  The  quantities  of 
catalogues  and  bulletins  required  for  distribu- 
tion through  these  channels  are  quite  consid- 
erable. According  to  the  records  available, 
there  are  in  the  United  States  some  three 
thousand  public  libraries  and  about  seven 
thousand  booksellers,  and  from  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  to  nine  hundred  of  the  former, 
and  from  twelve  hundred  and  fifty  to  fifteen 
hundred  of  the  latter  are  usually  considered  to 
be  sufficiently  important  to  be  placed  on  the 
regular  mailing  lists  for  spring  and  autumn 
announcements  of  new  publications  and  for 
quarterly  bulletins.  In  addition  to  this  distri- 
bution, publishers  receive  daily  applications 
from  different  parts  of  the  country  for  book- 
lists, descriptive  circulars  and  catalogues,  and 
they  have  occasion  to  mail  in  this  way,  in  the 
course  of  the  season,  some  thousands  of  copies. 
A  still  further  channel  of  distribution  is  through 
the  booksellers,  who  obtain  from  the  publisher 
supplies  of  from  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  sev- 
eral thousand  copies  of  the  book-lists  of  the  sea- 
son bearing  their  several  local  imprints.  If  the 
American  publisher  has  an  English  branch 
House,  it  becomes  necessary  also  to  print  for 
distribution  in  Great  Britain  and  the  Colonies 
special  lots  of  the  catalogues  and  bulletins  in 
which  the  currency  prices  have  been  replaced 
by  their  sterling  equivalents. 


H&rertfsfng 


165 


If  a  work  is  of  a  special  character,  belong- 
ing, for  instance,  to  what  are  called  technical 
publications,  for  which  a  detailed  description 
is  required  in  order  to  give  an  adequate  im- 
pression of  its  purpose  and  its  subject-matter, 
a  separate  descriptive  circular  can  often  be 
utilized  to  advantage  for  mailing  to  the  partic- 
ular circles  of  readers  likely  to  be  interested. 
Excepting,  however,  for  some  such  special 
purpose,  descriptive  circulars  are  not,  as  a 
rule,  found  to  be  of  suflFicient  service  to  offset  the 
cost  of  their  distribution,  as  it  is  difficult  to  se- 
cure attention  for  them  from  the  general  public. 

For  a  work  on  pottery,  for  instance,  it 
would  be  considered  advisable  to  mail  de- 
scriptive circulars  to  the  managers  of  the  pot- 
teries throughout  the  country,  to  the  principal 
dealers  in  pottery  wares,  and  to  collectors,  as 
far  as  the  addresses  of  these  could  be  secured; 
for  a  work  on  fortification  or  artillery,  descrip- 
tive circulars  would  properly  be  sent  to  the 
army  and  navy  instructors,  to  commanders, 
to  post  libraries,  and  to  the  larger  general  libra- 
ries which  devote  alcoves  to  such  special  sub- 
jects. It  would,  however,  as  a  rule,  be  futile 
and  wasteful  to  make  any  miscellaneous  dis- 
tribution of  descriptive  circulars  of  books  of 
such  special  character  among  booksellers  and 
bookbuyers  as  a  whole.  It  is,  further,  usually 
considered  advisable  to  delay  incurring  the 
expense  of  the  printing  and  distribution  of  a 


B^vecti0■ 
CircuUc0 


i66 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


IReviews 
1Require^ 

foe 
Citation 


descriptive  circular  until  reviews  have  been 
secured  or  letters  received  from  readers  who 
have  been  interested,  from  which  reviews  and 
letters,  quotations  or  extracts  can  be  made 
for  use  in  the  circulars.  It  is  desirable,  namely, 
in  presenting  a  book  to  the  attention  of  the 
public  to  be  able  to  add  to  the  publisher's 
statement  of  its  purpose  and  its  value,  some 
expressions  of  opinion  from  authorities  who 
have  no  business  interest  in  its  success.  If 
this  policy  be  adopted,  the  author  must  usu- 
ally be  prepared  to  accept  a  delay  of  a  month 
or  two  after  the  publication  of  his  book  before 
it  is  desirable  to  incur  the  labor  and  expendi- 
ture of  distributing  descriptive  circulars. 

Show-bills  or  posters  are  placed  by  book- 
sellers on  the  boards  in  front  of  their  shops, 
and  authors  are  accustomed  to  lay  stress  on 
seeing  their  books  so  advertised.  The  matter 
is,  however,  not  of  so  much  importance  as  it 
is  often  considered;  and,  in  any  case,  the 
printing  of  the  show-bill  does  not  necessarily 
secure  its  being  posted  by  any  great  number 
of  booksellers.  Every  dealer  receives  a  great 
many  more  show-bills  than  he  has  room  for 
on  his  boards,  and  he  selects  for  use  those  of 
the  books  in  most  active  demand,  rather  than 
of  the  books  most  in  need  of  such  advertise- 
ment. The  cost  of  show-bills  is  chargeable  to 
the  author,  if  he  is  the  owner  of  the  edition 
of  his  book. 


advertising. 


167 


During  the  past  two  years,  there  has  been  a 
noteworthy  development  in  the  artistic  excel- 
lence and  attractiveness  of  the  posters,  or,  at 
least,  in  the  striking  effects  that  have  been  se- 
cured through  the  use  of  grotesque  designs 
and  lurid  combinations  of  colors.  The  devel- 
opment of  poster-designing  as  a  branch  of  the 
fine  arts  took  its  start  in  Paris,  and  was,  later, 
taken  up  as  a  convenient  fad  of  the  season  by 
the  "  Piccadillians,"  and  the  "  Bodley-Head- 
ers  "  of  London,  who  have,  in  not  a  few  of 
their  mannerisms,  been  ready  to  follow  the 
lead  of  the  literary  Boulevardiers.  In  so  far  as 
the  increasing  interest  of  authors  in  securing 
an  artistic  or  striking  advertisement  of  their 
books,  and  the  increasing  readiness  of  artists 
possessing  originality  of  imagination  and  ca- 
pacity for  designing,  to  give  attention  to  poster 
work,  have  served  to  make  more  artistic  or 
more  interesting  the  show-boards  of  the  book- 
sellers or  the  hoardings  of  the  streets,  the  fad 
may  be  credited  with  some  satisfactory  re- 
sults. It  is  probable  that  its  chief  impetus  is, 
however,  by  this  date,  almost  spent,  and  that 
there  will,  for  the  coming  years,  be  a  diminu- 
tion in  the  expenditure  required  for  this  detail 
of  publishing  machinery.  This  expenditure 
had,  in  fact,  become  quite  a  serious  item  in 
connection  as  well  with  the  amount  paid  to 
the  higher  grade  artists  whose  designs  were 
utilized,  as  with  the  larger  outlay  required  for 


posters 

as  an  Bet 

an(  as 

af&b 


i68 


Hutbors  an^  put^lisbers 


Cost  of 

Bdvettiss 

ing 


the  work  of  the  lithographers  and  color  print- 
ers for  the  production  of  complicated  com- 
binations. 

The  value  of  advertising  space  in  the  jour- 
nals in  which  book-advertising  is  usually  done 
varies  from  ten  cents  to  fifty  cents  a  line.  The 
line  of  type  on  which  such  price  is  based  is 
not  that  usually  used  in  the  advertisements, 
but  represents  the  space  that  would  be  cov- 
ered by  a  line  of  agate  type,  measuring  four- 
teen lines  to  the  inch.  An  advertisement  of 
say  fifty-six  lines,  or  four  inches,  which  would 
make  a  good  display  of  the  title  and  descrip- 
tion of  a  book,  and  would  enable  effective  cita- 
tions to  be  made  from  reviews,  would  cost  in 
the  more  important  of  the  New  York  morning 
papers  (which  have  literature  departments) 
from  $15.50  to  $17.50.  In  the  evening  papers 
of  the  same  class  from  $7.50  to  $9.00.  In  the 
weekly  critical  or  literary  papers,  such  as  the 
Nation  or  the  Critic,  from  $6.75  to  $7.25. 
Advertising  space  in  the  leading  magazines, 
such  as  the  Century,  Harper's,  and  Scribner's, 
is  comparatively  expensive,  costing  from  $125 
to  $200  per  page. 

In  selecting  the  journals  in  which  adver- 
tising space  can  be  purchased  with  probable 
advantage,  it  is  more  important  to  use  the 
money  in  periodicals  reaching  the  intelligent 
circle  of  book-buyers  than  in  those  having  a 
very  extended  circulation  with  the  general 


advertising 


169 


public.  Ten  or  twelve  thousand  cultivated 
readers  are  of  more  advantage  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  author  and  his  publisher  than 
would  be  two  or  three  hundred  thousand  of 
the  classes  of  the  community  which  very  rarely 
spend  money  in  books.  The  whole  business, 
however,  of  possible  returns  to  be  secured 
from  advertising  expenditure  remains,  even 
after  many  years  of  carefully  tabulated  experi- 
ence, very  much  a  matter  of  guesswork. 

It  will  be  easily  understood  that,  for  books  of 
a  technical  or  otherwise  special  character,  ad- 
vertising space  can  be  utilized  to  advantage  in 
the  journals  which  are  devoted  to  the  particu- 
lar subject-matter  with  which  the  book  is  con- 
cerned. For  a  volume  addressed  to  military 
or  naval  readers,  having  to  do  either  with 
military  history  or  with  the  sciences  in  which 
army  men  are  interested,  the  Army  and  Navy 
Journal  would  naturally  be  selected  for  adver- 
tising. For  theological  works,  space  should 
be  secured  in  such  papers  as  the  Church- 
man, the  Observer,  or  Evangelist,  accord- 
ing to  the  special  school  of  theology  repre- 
sented by  the  book.  For  liberal  theology, 
general  ethics,  and  sociological  subjects  the 
Christian  Register  of  Boston  and  the  Outlook 
and  Independent  of  New  York  are  likely  to 
prove  of  service.  These  papers  are  mentioned 
merely  as  representatives  of  a  great  class ;  it 
would  not  be  practicable  in  a  brief  reference  of 


Selection 

of 
journals 


17© 


Hutbors  and  pubUsbets 


Selection 

of 
5ournat« 


this  kind  to  specify  the  names  of  all  the  note- 
worthy journals  throughout  the  country  whose 
advertising  columns  can  be  recommended  as 
probably  of  value  for  its  circles  of  readers. 
For  literature,  irrespective  of  dogmas  of  one 
kind  or  another,  the  Nation  (weekly)  of  New 
York,  the  Bookman  (monthly)  of  New  York, 
the  Bookbuyer  (monthly)  of  New  York,  the 
Critic  (weekly)  of  New  York,  the  Reviews  of 
Reviews  (monthly)  of  New  York,  the  Literary 
World  (bi-weekly)  of  Boston,  and  the  Dial 
(bi-weekly)  of  Chicago,  are  the  most  im- 
portant. It  is  proper  to  say,  however,  that 
the  religious  weeklies  such  as  those  before 
mentioned  and  many  others,  give  consider- 
able space  in  the  course  of  the  year  to  reviews 
of  general  literature,  and  their  descriptions 
and  favorable  mention  of  books  of  assured 
value  ought  to  prove  of  service  in  bringing 
these  books  to  the  attention  of  thoughtful 
readers  throughout  the  country.  It  is,  in  fact, 
a  constant  cause  of  surprise  to  both  authors 
and  publishers  that  larger  and  more  direct  re- 
sults in  the  matter  of  sales  are  not  brought 
about  by  distinctive  and  favorable  reviews  in 
the  journals  which  have  in  the  aggregate  a 
very  considerable  circulation  among  intellig- 
ent people. 

With  a  certain  class  of  periodicals,  daily, 
weekly,  and  monthly,  a  pretty  close  connect- 
ion is  maintained  between  the  editorial  or 


H&pertisfna 


171 


literary  department  and  the  publishing  or  ad- 
vertising control.  If  a  book  or  a  certain  group 
of  books  has  secured  a  fair  measure  of  attent- 
ion in  the  literary  columns  of  such  a  period- 
ical, the  publisher  is  pretty  sure  to  receive 
promptly  thereafter  a  call  from  a  representative 
of  the  advertising  manager  with  the  suggestion 
that  a  purchase  of  advertising  space  is  now  in 
order.  While  the  admission  would  not,  as  a 
rule,  be  openly  made  that  attention  or  favorable 
attention  in  the  reviewing  department  could 
be  influenced  by  the  amount  of  expenditure 
allowed  for  the  purchase  of  advertising  space, 
it  is  quite  possible  with  periodicals  under  a 
certain  kind  of  management  to  trace  a  very 
direct  relation  between  the  two.  If  a  pub- 
lisher has  attempted  to  economize  in  his  out- 
lays for  advertising,  his  books  are  very  likely 
to  be  "slated"  or  pigeon-holed  so  that  the 
reviews  or  notices  will  be  indefinitely  delayed 
or  will  be  overlooked  altogether,  or  will,  when 
printed,  consist  of  a  few  perfunctory  lines. 
The  more  important,  however,  the  literary  in- 
fluence of  the  journal,  the  less  probability  is 
there  that  the  managers  of  its  review  depart- 
ment will  permit  themselves  to  be  influenced 
in  the  apportionment  of  their  review  space  by 
any  suggestions  from  their  advertising  man- 
agers. With  this  higher  class  of  journals,  a 
suggestion  from  a  publisher  that,  on  the  ground 
of   his  liberal  patronage  of  the  advertising 


IRevfews 

an^ 

Ubvextiae* 

tnente 


172 


Hutbors  ant>  ipublisbers 


purpose 

of 
"tteviewa 


columns,  he  is  entitled  to  a  proportionate 
amount  of  favorable  attention  in  the  literary 
department,  would  be  received  with  a  pretty 
sharp  expression  of  indignation  and  would 
probably  have  an  effect  directly  contrary  to 
that  for  which  the  publisher  had  hoped.  The 
position  taken  by  the  managers  of  these 
higher-grade  journals  is  that  their  reviews  are 
prepared  for  the  public,  not  for  the  sake  of 
obliging  their  business  patrons  (whether  pub- 
lishers or  any  other  class  of  dealers)  or  even  of 
meeting  the  wishes  of  the  authors. 

The  purpose  of  reviews  written  from  the 
higher  literary  standard  is  to  give  to  the 
readers  of  the  journal  an  impartial  and  trust- 
worthy impression  concerning  the  purpose 
and  the  character  of  the  literature  of  the  day, 
and  concerning  the  relative  value,  for  special 
circles  of  readers  or  students  or  for  the  gen- 
eral public,  of  different  books  devoted  to  the 
same  general  subject-matter.  In  so  far  as  the 
reviews  fail  to  present  trustworthy  informa- 
tion of  this  kind,  and  the  reviewing  space 
is  utilized  either  with  reference  to  the  pos- 
sible business  advantage  of  the  paper  or  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  off  the  special  erudi- 
tion or  special  theories  or  vanities  of  the  re- 
viewer, or  for  the  further  purpose  of  maintain- 
ing for  the  journal  a  reputation  for  omnisci- 
ence, infallibility,  and  perversity,  just  so  far  has 
the  real  obligation  of  the  journal  to  its  readers, 


advertising 


173 


to  the  welfare  of  the  public,  and  to  what  ought 
to  be  its  own  higher  literary  standard,  been 
lost  sight  of.  The  journal  has  proved  un- 
faithful to  its  trust,  and  it  must  in  the  end  lose 
character,  and,  in  lessening  its  influence  and 
its  value  as  a  trustworthy  guide,  it  must  also 
impair  its  business  position. 

It  is  not  usually  found  desirable  to  make 
any  very  considerable  investment  in  advertis- 
ing until  the  notices  of  the  book-reviewers 
have  begun  to  appear.  Unless  for  the  work 
of  some  writer  well  known  through  previous 
successful  books,  the  repeated  announcement 
of  the  title  and  the  name  of  the  author  will 
not  of  themselves  attract  sufficient  attention 
to  induce  sales.  When  such  announcement 
can  be  followed  by  extracts  from  favorable  re- 
views, quoted  from  journals  possessing  liter- 
ary authority,  advertisements  are  much  more 
likely  to  be  serviceable  and  to  repay  their  cost. 
The  actual  extent  of  such  service  and  propor- 
tion of  such  repayment  it  is,  however,  very 
difficult  to  estimate.  If  a  work  has  any  claim 
upon  the  interest  of  the  public,  continued  de- 
scriptive advertising  can  nearly  always  be 
depended  upon  to  produce  an  increase  in  the 
sales,  but  it  is  often  enough  the  case  that 
such  increase  is  not  sufficient  to  repay  the 
cost  of  advertising.  If  an  investment  of  $50 
in  advertising  brought  an  additional  sale  of 
fifty  copies  for  a  dollar  book,  there  would  be 


B^vecti0■ 

ing 
®iitUic« 


174 


Hutbors  anD  publiabers 


BbvcrtUs 
®utUie0 


a  net  loss  on  the  transaction  of  from  $30  to 
$35.  That  kind  of  "pushing"  and  "enter- 
prise "  publishers  are,  notwithstanding  the 
criticisms  of  authors,  naturally  averse  to,  nor 
can  they  honestly  recommend  it  to  authors 
who  pay  their  own  publishing  expenses. 

It  is,  as  a  rule,  pretty  easy  to  tell,  after  a 
few  experiments  in  advertising,  whether  a 
book  possesses  what  may  be  called  "  elas- 
ticity," that  is,  responds  readily  and  remuner- 
atively to  advertising  and  "  pushing."  If  such 
an  elasticity  be  there,  and  a  public  interest  can 
be  felt  to  have  been  awakened,  a  great  deal 
can  be  accomplished  by  judiciously  planned 
advertising  to  extend  and  keep  active  such  in- 
terest. If,  however,  no  such  interest  appears, 
and  the  first  advertising  outlay  produces  no  re- 
turns, or  but  trifling  returns,  further  outlays 
will,  at  that  time  at  least,  be  money  thrown 
away.  It  only  remains  to  wait  for  some  favor- 
able reviews  or  for  some  turn  in  public  opinion 
before  attempting  further  effort,  or  before,  per- 
haps, deciding  that  the  venture  has,  at  least  from 
a  commercial  point  of  view,  been  a  mistake. 
If  a  work  fails  to  show  such  elasticity,  if  the 
reviews  be  slighting  and  inconsiderable,  or 
even,  if  favorable,  do  not  have  the  result  of 
attracting  public  attention,  no  amount  of  ad- 
vertising can,  as  a  rule,  help  the  matter.  It  is 
very  seldom  indeed  that  a  book  can  be 
crammed  down  the  throat  of  the  public,  like 


H^vertisfna 


175 


Winslow's  Soothing  Syrup.  When  it  has 
once  fallen  flat,  it  is,  with  rare  exceptions, 
as  impracticable  for  the  publisher  to  put  life 
into  it  by  advertising,  as  it  would  be  for  him 
to  lift  himself  over  the  fence  by  the  straps  of 
his  boots. 

In  this  connection,  however,  it  is  proper  to 
remember  that  publishing  management  can 
sometimes  put  renewed  life  into  material 
which  has  apparently  fallen  out  of  relations  to 
the  literature  of  its  time,  and  the  demand  for 
which  has  ceased.  In  1848,  when  the  late 
George  P.  Putnam  undertook  the  publication 
of  such  of  the  works  of  Washington  Irving  as 
had  at  that  time  been  written,  these  had  for 
three  years  been  out  of  print,  and  no  publish- 
ing House  had  had  sufficient  faith  in  their  con- 
tinued vitality  to  make  propositions  for  their 
reissue.  Irving  himself  began  to  believe  that 
his  day  as  a  writer  had  gone  by,  and  told  his 
nephews  that  he  thought  his  literary  life  was 
finished.  Yet,  during  the  next  decade,  his 
publisher  paid  him  more  money  for  copy- 
rights than  he  had  received  during  all  the  pre- 
ceding years  of  his  life;  and,  encouraged  by 
this  renewed  popularity,  Irving  completed 
during  those  ten  years  some  of  his  most  im- 
portant productions. 

Of  course,  no  amount  of  publishing  man- 
agement could  have  produced  such  a  result  if 
the  works  had  not  themselves  possessed  the 


Value  of 
publitb- 
ing  Service 


176 


Butbors  an&  pubUsbers 


Value  of 
1Review0 


essential  qualities  which  constitute  classics; 
but  no  one  admitted  more  frankly  than  Irving 
himself,  how  large  a  part  the  skill  and  enter- 
prise of  his  publisher  had  played  in  securing 
from  a  new  generation  of  readers  the  recog- 
nition of  his  works  as  classics  of  permanent 
value,  and  how  great  had  been  his  discourage- 
ment at  the  time  the  co-operation  of  this  pub- 
lisher was  placed  at  his  disposal. 

We  have  referred  to  the  importance  of 
attention  from  the  reviewers.  There  are  in- 
stances of  very  considerable  sales  having  been 
obtained  by  books  which  had  received  no 
mention,  or  but  very  slighting  mention,  in  the 
literary  columns  of  the  leading  journals.  But 
these  are  the  exceptions.  As  a  rule,  it  is 
almost  impossible  for  a  new  writer  to  obtain 
a  hearing  before  the  public,  unless  the  review- 
ers will  give  some  space  to  his  books.  While 
it  is  desirable,  of  course,  that  such  notices 
should  be  favorable,  it  has  not  infrequently 
happened  that  sales  have  been  facilitated  by 
fiercely  unfavorable  reviews,  if  these  have  but 
given  sufficient  space  to  the  material  and  have 
presented  some  adequate  description  of  it. 
While  reviews  are  important,  and  while  with- 
out them  success  is  very  difficult,  it  is  also 
easy  to  overestimate  their  direct  influence  on 
sales.  It  occasionally  happens  that  a  work 
which  attracts  very  considerable  and  favorable 
attention  from  the  reviewers,  fails  to  find  favor 


a&rertfsina 


177 


with  the  general  public;  and  the  young  author 
who  has,  after  the  appearance  of  some  pleas- 
ant notice,  hurried  up  to  the  publisher's  office 
to  inquire  how  soon  a  new  edition  will  be  re- 
quired, is  met  by  a  discouraging  report.  Such 
a  result  is  usually  due  to  the  fact  that  the  re- 
viewers, while  writing  for,  and  on  behalf  of, 
the  reading  public,  do  not  themselves  form  a 
fair  representation  of  the  average  opinion  of 
such  public.  They  will  naturally  emphasize 
that  which  has  a  personal  interest  for  them- 
selves, and  this  may  very  easily  be  material 
which,  for  one  reason  or  another,  happens  to 
be  out  of  the  range  of  the  interests  of  the 
public  at  large. 

The  suggestion  sometimes  comes  to  the 
publisher  that  the  author  can,  through  his 
personal  acquaintance,  influence  favorable  re- 
views in  this  or  that  quarter,  but  it  is  a  sug- 
gestion to  which,  as  the  publisher's  experience 
tells  him,  he  can  attach  little  weight,  as  he 
knows  that  the  journals  whose  opinions  are 
of  any  value  conduct  their  literary  columns 
without  reference  to  personal  influences,  and 
in  fact  often  arrange  to  secure  their  reviews 
from  different  specialists  outside  of  their  own 
office. 

The  number  of  copies  of  a  new  book  which 
can  to  advantage  be  distributed  for  review, 
varies  of  course  according  to  the  character  and 
costliness  of  the  work,  the  number  printed, 


personal 
Influence 

on 
IReviewers 


178 


Hutbors  anb  pubUsbers 


S>fstribua 
tionof 
:6oo(i0 


etc.  Of  a  novel,  from  150  to  300  copies 
are  usually  used  in  this  way;  of  a  work  of 
standard  literature,  from  100  to  200  ;  and  of  a 
work  of  special  character,  a  much  smaller 
number.  If  the  book  is  also  published  in 
England,  an  allowance  of  from  twenty-five  to 
fifty  copies  should  be  made  for  the  British 
journals,  and  possibly  eight  or  ten  for  the  few 
periodicals  on  the  Continent  which  give  at- 
tention to  American  literature. 

There  has  been  of  late  a  very  large  increase 
throughout  the  country  of  journals  in  which 
competent  and  able  reviews  appear,  an  in- 
crease out  of  proportion  to  the  growth  of 
booksellers  and  of  book-buyers,  but  however 
excellent  its  reviews  may  be,  it  does  not 
usually  pay  a  publisher  to  add  a  journal  to  his 
list,  unless  the  town  where  it  is  published 
contains  at  least  one  active  bookseller  in 
whose  packages  the  Press  copies  can  be  en- 
closed, and  who  can  be  depended  upon  to 
keep  on  his  counter  supplies  or  specimen 
copies  at  least,  of  the  books  reviewed. 

When,  after  all  preliminary  difficulties  have 
been  overcome,  his  book  is  at  last  fairly  pub- 
lished, the  author  not  unnaturally  expects  that 
copies  of  it  will  at  once  appear  on  the  counters 
of  all  the  book-stores  throughout  the  country. 
In  this  expectation  he  is  likely  to  be  more  or 
less  disappointed,  and  the  complaint  that 
"friends  have  inquired  for  a  book  in  this 


aovertising 


179 


place  or  that,  and  have  not  found  it,"  is  one 
of  the  most  frequent  that  comes  to  the  office 
of  the  publisher.  It  is  not  always  easy  to 
make  clear,  at  least  in  connection  with  a  first 
book,  why  it  is  that  publishing  machinery 
does  not  and  cannot  provide  for  any  such 
general  distribution  in  advance  of  the  public 
demand.  The  first  edition  of  a  first  book 
does  not  usually  consist  of  more  than  1000 
copies,  and  of  these  from  150  to  200  copies 
are  required  for  the  Press.  But  a  general 
distribution  of  copies  among  the  leading  book- 
stores of  the  country  (even  if  there  were  no 
other  reasons  rendering  it  impracticable) 
would  require  not  1000  but  from  5000  to 
10,000  copies,  a  larger  edition  than  either  the 
publisher  or  the  author  (if  the  venture  be  his) 
is  usually  willing  to  risk  with  a  first  enterprise. 
If,  however,  some  such  number  of  copies 
were  sent  out,  and  one  half  of  them  (a  large 
proportion)  found  buyers,  the  extra  cost  of 
manufacturing  the  copies  not  sold  and  the  ex- 
pense of  the  freight  on  these  when  returned, 
would  considerably  more  than  absorb  the 
profits  on  the  copies  sold,  so  that  with  quite 
a  large  sale  the  net  result  of  the  transaction 
might  be  a  material  loss.  It  is,  however, 
also  the  case  that  the  better  class  of  book- 
sellers object  to  receiving  unsolicited  con- 
signments of  untried  books,  and  when  such 
consignments  come  to  hand,  they  are  very 


Sool>« 
on  Sale 


i8o  Hutbors  an&  publisbers 


sooft0  likely  to  put  them  to  one  side,  or  sometimes 
on  Sale  gygj^  promptly  to  express  them  back  to  the 
publisher  at  his  cost.  They  reason  that  the 
space  on  their  counters  represents  a  consider- 
able outlay  for  rent,  and  that  they  prefer  to 
use  their  own  judgment  as  to  how  such  space 
shall  be  occupied,  and  to  select  for  it  such 
stock  as  may  be  most  likely  to  prove  re- 
munerative ;  and  if  they  have  in  their  shops 
a  certain  amount  of  stock  that  belongs  to 
them,  and  other  stock  that  they  have  the 
privilege  of  returning,  it  is  naturally  to  their 
interest  to  give  their  special  attention  to  the 
former,  even  to  the  extent  of  putting  the  lat- 
ter to  one  side  altogether. 

In  consideration  of  this  class  of  objections 
on  the  part  of  the  booksellers,  and  also  of  the 
fact  that  if  a  House  is  in  the  habit  of  making 
consignments  of  its  books  it  finds  much 
greater  difficulty  in  securing  any  orders  for 
them,  the  leading  publishers  have  practically 
given  up  the  custom  of  making  consignments, 
although  they  occasionally  find  it  advisable  to 
concede  to  regular  customers  the  privilege  of 
returning  for  exchange  unsold  stock.  The 
leading  booksellers  usually  place  with  the 
publishers  "standing  orders"  for  specimen 
copies  of  new  books  as  published,  and  from 
these  specimen  copies,  in  connection  with 
such  demand  as  may  arise  through  the  no- 
tices in  the  local  journals  of  the  Press-copies 


^■.-    HC>vertt0fng 


i8i 


sent  with  them,  they  make  up  their  orders 
for  such  further  supplies  as  they  judge  will  be 
required.  Instructions  in  the  form  of  stand- 
ing orders  usually  include  specifications  of 
certain  classes  of  books  which  are  not  to  be 
sent ;  one  dealer,  for  instance,  wanting  no  re- 
ligious works,  another  no  fiction,  a  third  no 
works  on  special  scientific  subjects,  and  near- 
ly all  ruling  out  from  such  advance  orders  all 
pamphlets  and  all  poetry  by  new  authors. 
The  book  does  not,  therefore,  as  the  author 
often  imagines,  come  into  demand  because  it 
is  in  the  book-stores,  but  it  makes  its  way 
into  the  book-stores  because  it  has  come  into 
demand. 

An  author  frequently  suggests  that,  if  the 
publisher  will  only  take  pains  to  place  his 
book  on  the  railroad  stands,  it  will  certainly 
find  sale.  This  also  is,  however,  something 
that  depends,  in  the  first  place,  upon  the  book. 
The  business  of  selling  books  on  the  railroads  is 
in  the  hands  of  a  few  large  companies;  that  of 
the  roads  running  out  of  New  York,  for  in- 
stance, being  controlled  by  three  concerns. 
The  space  on  the  stands  is  limited  and  is  con- 
sidered valuable,  and  the  salesmen  who  sell 
books  through  the  trains  earn  good  wages. 
The  managers  are  therefore  naturally  unwil- 
ling that  their  space  and  the  time  of  their 
men  should  be  devoted  to  any  books  that  are 
not  what  they  call  "sure  things."    They  do 


JSoolie  on 
Stanbs 


I»2 


Hutbors  anD  publisbers 


Soolts  on 
newta 
Stance 


I 


not  want  to  try  any  experiments,  but  plan  to 
give  attention  only  to  works  that  have  already 
"made  a  sensation."  When  a  book  has  made 
a  mark,  it  is  well  to  talk  to  the  railroad  men 
about  it,  but  not  before. 

The  principal  sales  of  the  railroad  dealers 
are  for  books  in  paper  covers,  and  copies  of 
these,  if  not  sold  promptly,  easily  become, 
through  exposure  on  the  stands  and  the  hand- 
ling on  the  trains,  shopworn  and  unsalable. 
A  large  part  of  the  loss  on  the  unsold  and 
damaged  books  must,  as  a  rule,  be  borne  by 
the  publishers,  and  it  is  important,  therefore, 
for  them  that  only  such  works  be  placed  on 
the  railroads  as  are  reasonably  sure  of  finding 
prompt  and  remunerative  sale. 

A  very  large  proportion  of  the  sale  of  paper- 
bound  books  must  be  efTected  through  the 
railroads  and  news  companies  ;  and  as  an  edi- 
tion of  considerable  size  is  required  to  place  a 
book  at  all  effectively  in  these  special  chan- 
nels, it  is  not,  as  a  rule,  considered  advisable 
to  use  paper  covers  for  first  editions  of  first 
books,  or  for  any  books  which  cannot  be 
depended  upon  to  secure  a  wide  popular  de- 
mand. 

The  author  may  be  disposed,  after  going 
over  this  summary  of  the  methods  of  bringing 
a  book  before  the  public,  to  conclude  that, 
after  all,  his  success  will  depend  upon  the 
character  of  his  work,  and  that  if  his  book 


a&verttsina 


183 


must,  so  to  speak,  sell  itself,  the  publisher's 
co-operation  in  the  undertaking  amounts  to 
nothing.  Leaving,  for  the  moment,  out  of  the 
question  the  all-important  cases  in  which  the 
co-operation  of  the  publisher  includes  the  pro- 
viding of  the  capital  required  for  the  under- 
taking, we  will  point  out  some  other  consider- 
ations which  make  such  co-operation  import- 
ant,— considerations  which  any  author  who 
has  attempted  to  place  a  book  before  the  pub- 
lic with  the  aid  only  of  a  printer,  or  through 
an  authors'  association,  will  be  ready  to  ap- 
preciate. 

In  the  first  place,  the  imprint  of  any  reput- 
able publishing  House  is  of  essential  service 
in  securing  for  a  book  early  attention,  which 
would  otherwise  come  to  it  either  not  at  all 
or  very  slowly  Publishing  imprints  differ  of 
course  in  value,  not  merely  in  connection  with 
the  general  reputation  of  the  several  firms,  but 
also  on  the  ground  of  their  special  association 
with  different  classes  of  literature, — scientific, 
denominational,  sensational,  etc. 

Secondly,  the  association  on  a  publisher's 
catalogue  of  the  work  of  a  new  author  with 
the  writings  of  authors  whose  volumes  are  in 
steady  demand,  is  of  no  little  importance. 
We  have  before  referred  to  the  large  number 
of  copies  of  catalogues  and  booklists  which 
are  continually  being  distributed  by  publishers. 
The  book-buyer  who  sends  for  a  catalogue 


Value  of 
fmpcints 


1 84 


Hutbora  an&  publisbers 


Value 
of  Cons 
nectionc 


containing  the  works  of  the  well-known 
authors,  A,  B,  and  C,  finds  in  it  also  the  titles 
of  books  of  the  younger  writers,  X,  Y,  and 
Z,  and  thus  has  the  opportunity  presented  to 
him  of  interesting  himself  also  in  these  last. 

A  third  and  most  indispensable  service  rend- 
ered by  the  publisher,  is  in  supplying  the 
machinery  through  which,  if  a  book  is  called 
for,  it  can  be  supplied.  As  before  explained, 
it  is  not  in  his  power  to  create  a  demand  or  to 
force  a  book  into  sale,  but  he  should  be  able  to 
satisfy  promptly  any  demand  which  may  arise, 
and  to  see  that  any  public  interest  that  may 
have  awakened  be  duly  fostered  and  kept  as 
active  as  possible.  If  a  review  in  a  paper  in 
Peoria  has  attracted  attention  to  a  book,  the 
reader  who  inquires  for  it  at  the  local  book- 
store may  or  may  not  find  a  copy  on  the  coun- 
ter, but  he  ought  in  any  case  to  be  able  to 
obtain  information  as  to  price,  etc.,  and  if  the 
work  is  on  the  list  of  any  regular  publisher, 
the  bookseller  can  fill  orders  for  it  at  once.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  book  has  been  issued 
without  imprint  and  is  not  on  any  of  the  book- 
lists of  the  month,  the  intending  buyer  is  likely 
to  leave  the  store  unsatisfied,  and  may  very 
easily  be  diverted  from  his  intention  ;  and  it 
may  be  remarked  that  the  buying  of  books  is 
by  no  means  so  confirmed  a  habit  with  the 
public  at  large  that  any  legitimate  means  to 
encourage  it  can  safely  be  neglected. 


General  Consi^eration^. 


185 


No  method  of  publishing  arrangement  can, 
of  course,  produce  profits  on  books  for 
which  remunerative  sales  have  not  been 
secured,  or  avoid  losses  on  books  of  which  the 
public  has  not  been  willing  to  purchase  enough 
copies  to  return  the  cost  of  the  production  and 
distribution.  Under  no  publishing  arrange- 
ment excepting  that  providing  for  the  purchase, 
by  the  publisher,  of  the  book  with  its  copy- 
right, can  the  author  secure  for  an  unsuc- 
cessful book  any  return,  or  at  best  any 
adequate  return  for  his  labor.  This  labor  has, 
as  far  as  commercial  results  are  concerned, 
been  thrown  away  and  constitutes  the  author's 
portion  of  the  losses  on  the  undertaking.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  com- 
pensation for  literary  production  can  never  be 
made  proportionate  to  the  amount  of  the  labor, 
skilled  or  unskilled,  that  has  been  put  into  it, 
but  depends  entirely  upon  the  amount  that  the 
community  is  willing  to  pay  for  the  result  of 
the  work — that  is,  upon  the  estimate  placed  by 


profits 
not  pros 
portioned 
to  labor 


1 86 


Hutbors  ant)  publtdbets 


Sales 

Ifteauireft 

to  IReturn 

9utlac« 


the  community  upon  the  value  to  itself  of 
the  service  rendered  by  the  author.  It  is  the 
contention  of  the  author,  in  submitting  his 
manuscript  to  the  publisher,  that  his  work 
possesses  commercial  value.  If  the  result  of 
the  publication  shows  such  value  to  be  a 
minus  quantity,  there  is  no  equity  in  asking 
the  publisher  to  increase  his  own  loss  by  mak- 
ing payments  to  the  author,  for,  whatever 
hours  of  conscientious  labor  the  author  has 
put  into  his  book,  it  is  (from  a  commercial 
point  of  view)  worth  nothing,  because  the 
community  does  not  want  it,  or  does  not  want 
enough  of  it,  and,  as  a  matter  of  justice,  the 
author  ought  himself  to  bear  the  loss  of  his 
time  and  labor  caused  by  his  own  erroneous 
judgment.  In  case,  however,  the  book  has 
been  produced  at  the  instance  not  of  the  author 
but  of  the  publisher,  it  is  for  the  latter  to  bear 
the  losses  due  to  his  bad  judgment  and  to  his 
wrong  estimate  either  of  the  capacity  of  the 
author  employed  or  of  the  requirements  of 
the  public. 

If  a  book  has  been  published  at  a  selling 
price  which  would  return  the  first  cost  of  its 
production  with  a  sale  of  a  thousand  copies, 
and  if  (as  is  unfortunately  the  case  with  not  a 
few  books  for  which  larger  sales  had  been  ex- 
pected) less  than  one  thousand  copies  are 
called  for,  the  publisher  will  fail  to  secure  the 
amount  invested  by  him  in  the  undertaking. 


(General  Con6i&erations  187 


To  the  deficiency  on  the  manufacturing  ac-  iRtess 
count  must  be  added  the  outlay  for  advertising  HaWng' 
and  the  amount  paid  to  the  author  for  royal- 
ties, in  case  the  book  has  been  published  un- 
der an  arrangement  providing  for  the  payment 
of  royalties  on  all  copies  sold.  A  book  pub- 
lished, for  instance,  at  $1.50,  and  securing  a 
sale  of  a  thousand  copies  and  no  more,  would, 
as  a  rule,  return  to  the  publisher  the  first  man- 
ufacturing outlay,  leaving  as  a  deficiency  the 
expense  of  the  advertising.  If  on  this  one 
thousand  copies  the  author  has  received  a  ten- 
per-cent.  royalty,  the  publisher's  deficiency  will 
have  been  increased  by  the  amount  of  $150. 
He  will  have  to  accept  this  debit  as  an  offset 
to  the  pleasure  of  having  come  into  business 
relations  with  the  author. 

The  contention  has  been  submitted  more 
than  once  by  members  of  the  different  authors' 
societies  that  the  publisher  who  understands 
his  business  ought  not  to  take,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact  does  not  take,  any  risk  in  his 
undertakings.  These  writers  arrive  at  the 
conclusion,  therefore,  that  in  estimating  the 
probable  profits  from  usual  undertakings  the 
element  of  risk  need  not  be  taken  into  account. 
This  conclusion  is  based  upon  the  assumption 
that,  after  a  little  experience,  the  publisher  can 
become  an  infallible  judge  of  a  "good  book" 
(the  term  being  here  used  in  the  trade  sense 
to  denote  "  a  book  that  will  sell  "),  as,  for  in- 


1 88 


Butbora  an^  ipubUabers 


IReturns 

on 
Capital 


stance,  a  dealer  in  provisions  can  train  him- 
self to  be  an  infallible  judge  of  good  pork  or 
of  good  eggs.  I  can  only  point  out  that  no 
such  infallible  publisher  has  as  yet  been  pro- 
duced. The  history  of  publishing  is  a  record 
of  erroneous  judgments,  and  publishing  falli- 
bility is  an  unavoidable  factor  in  the  conduct 
of  publishing  undertakings.  The  authors 
whose  books  are  successful  complain  of  the 
injustice  of  lessening  their  returns  in  order  to 
help  to  make  provision  for  the  losses  of  the 
unsuccessful  books.  It  seems  to  me  evident, 
however,  that  unless  the  author's  share  of  the 
returns  from  literature  be  made  to  assume  its 
portion  of  the  losses  incurred  in  placing  litera- 
ture before  the  public,  the  publishing  ma- 
chinery must  assuredly  within  a  certain  period 
disappear  altogether. 

This  statement  can  perhaps  be  put  more 
clearly  by  the  use  of  figures.  We  may  as- 
sume that  a  publisher  begins  business  with  a 
capital  of  $100,000.  On  the  successful  books 
of  his  first  year's  operations  the  profit  amounts 
to  $10,000  ;  on  the  unsuccessful  ventures  the 
deficiencies  aggregate  $5000.  The  expenses 
of  doing  his  business  amount  to  $5000,  This 
will  mean  that  as  a  result  of  his  undertakings 
for  the  first  year  there  were  no  returns  in  the 
shape  of  net  profits.  His  living  expenses 
would,  therefore,  for  this  year  have  to  be 
taken  out  of  some  previous  savings,  or  would 


(Beneral  Consi&cratton5 


189 


go  to  diminish  his  business  capital.  For  the 
second  year  he  makes  a  profit  on  the  "  good  " 
books  of  $20,000,  loses  on  unsuccessful  ven- 
tures $3000,  pays  for  the  expenses  of  the 
business  $6000,  and  has,  therefore,  a  balance 
to  the  good  of  $1 1,000. 

Assuming,  however,  for  the  purpose  of  this 
example,  that  the  profits  from  the  books  are 
to  be  equally  divided  between  the  publisher 
and  their  several  authors,  he  would  have  paid 
to  the  successful  authors  as  a  result  of  the  first 
year's  sales  $5000,  in  which  case,  at  the  close 
of  the  first  year,  the  capital  would  have  been 
reduced  (irrespective  of  the  publisher's  per- 
sonal expenses)  by  just  such  amount.  For 
the  sales  of  the  second  year  the  authors  would, 
in  like  manner,  be  entitled  to  $10,000,  there 
would  remain  for  the  publisher's  living  ex- 
penses $1000,  and  the  capital  would  be  re- 
duced by  just  such  amount  as  his  expenditure 
exceeded  $1000.  It  is  evident  that,  on  such  a 
basis,  the  entire  publishing  capital  must  be 
dissipated  within  a  given  term  of  years.  It 
is,  however,  part  of  our  assumption  that  the 
continued  existence  and  operation  of  the  pub- 
lishing capital  is  an  essential  service  to  the 
author.  But  if  such  capital  is  to  be  preserved, 
and  if  further  similar  capital  is  to  be  attracted 
into  publishing  undertakings,  thus  giving  to 
the  authors  the  advantage  of  publishing  com- 
petition for  their  productions,  authors  must  be 


Aafns 
tenance  of 
publiebe 
fng  Capital 


ipo 


autbors  ant)  publisbers 


profits 

and 
losses 


content  to  permit  some  portion  at  least  of  the 
net  losses  from  the  unsuccessful  books  to  be 
deducted  from  the  profits  accruing  from  the 
sales  of  the  successful  books,  before  these 
profits  can  be  considered  as  available  for 
division  between  themselves  and  the  pub- 
lishers. 

I  have  utilized,  for  the  purpose  of  this  ex- 
ample, an  arrangement  on  a  profit-sharing 
basis.  The  conclusion  is,  however,  equally 
well  founded  in  the  cases  in  which  the 
author's  share  of  the  "  profits  "  or  net  proceeds 
is  paid  in  the  shape  of  royalties,  or  of  round 
sums  in  commutation  of  royalties.  The  amount 
of  the  losses  or  deficiencies  on  the  unsuccessful 
books,  averaged  on  the  results  of  the  business 
of  preceding  years,  must  be  taken  into  account 
as  a  necessary  part  of  the  cost  of  conducting  a 
publishing  business,  and  as  a  necessary  factor 
in  bringing  literary  undertakings  before  the 
public.  If  the  aggregate  of  these  losses  should 
be  left  to  be  deducted  from  publishing  capital, 
such  capital  would,  from  year  to  year,  be  pro- 
portionately diminished  and  must  finally  dis- 
appear, and  authors  and  their  readers  would 
alike  suffer  from  the  destruction  of  publishing 
machinery. 

The  managers  of  the  British  "Society  of 
Authors"  have  given  a  large  measure  of  at- 
tention to  investigations  as  to  the  cost  of 
manufacturing  books,  and  the  results  of  these 


General  Considerations 


191 


investigations  have  been  printed  from  time  to 
time  in  The  Author  and  also  in  a  manual 
which  forms  one  of  the  official  publications  of 
the  society. 

The  figures  presented  are  of  course  entirely 
trustworthy  in  so  far  as  they  represent  the  re- 
sults of  painstaking  inquiry  on  the  part  of 
men  whose  word  cannot  be  questioned,  and 
who  have  a  very  keen  personal  interest  in  the 
subject  matter  considered.  The  reports  thus 
published  have  naturally  been  accepted  as  fi- 
nal authority  by  members  of  the  society  and 
by  many  outside  of  the  society,  and  the  figures 
in  these  reports  have  from  time  to  time  been 
made  the  text  or  the  occasion  for  sharp  criti- 
cism or  animadversion  upon  the  statements  of 
publishers  who  have  given  to  authors  a  more 
or  less  different  impression  of ' '  the  cost  of  pub- 
lishing a  book."  It  seems  to  me  evident,  how- 
ever, that  in  not  a  few  cases  such  comparisons 
have  not  been  based  upon  trustworthy  data, 
and  have  resulted  in  needless  confusion  and 
not  infrequently  in  injustice. 

As  indicated  in  a  previous  chapter,  it  is  ab- 
solutely essential  in  undertaking  to  compare 
two  or  more  estimates  of  cost  for  the  making 
of  a  book,  that  the  different  sets  of  figures 
shall  certainly  be  based  upon  precisely  the 
same  amount  of  material  and  the  same  charac- 
ter and  quality  of  workmanship.  Authors  who 
have  read  in  the  manual  of  the  "Authors' 


Ube  Cost 
of  pub* 
Itobing 


192 


Hutbors  anD  publtdbers 


Ube  Co6t 
ot  prints 
in0  JSoohB 


Society"  the  cost  of  producing  a  i6mo  or 
i2mo  volume  containing  a  certain  number  of 
pages,  are  likely  to  assume  that  the  figures 
should  be  precisely  the  same  for  any  other 
volume  printed  in  the  same  size  and  contain- 
ing the  same  number  of  pages.  It  is  neces- 
sary, however,  to  remind  them  of  various 
possible  differences  which  will  affect  the  com- 
parison, such  as  the  number  of  words  contained 
in  the  page,  the  width  of  the  printed  text,  the 
leading  of  the  lines  (upon  which  items  depend 
the  number  of  thousand  ems  charged  for  in 
the  printing-office),  the  printing  of  the  edition 
from  type  or  from  plates,  the  quality  of  the 
paper  used,  the  quality  of  the  material  put  into 
the  cover,  the  character  of  the  cover  stamp 
(involving  an  initial  expense  for  designing  and 
for  cutting,  and  a  later  current  expenditure  in 
the  stamping  of  the  covers),  and  a  number  of 
other  similar  details. 

Unless  at  the  time  the  comparison  is  made 
the  investigators  have  before  them  the  actual 
volumes  or  actual  material  to  be  considered, 
there  is  opportunity  for  misapprehension  and 
error  of  conclusion  under  a  number  of  heads. 
Every  publisher  and  every  printer  has  had  ex- 
perience with  clients  who  come  to  them  with 
very  pronounced  conclusions,  based  upon  very 
guess-work  information,  as  to  what  ought  to 
be  the  cost  of  certain  editions  of  certain  books. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  men  who  have 


General  Considerations 


193 


had  the  special  experience  that  has  now  been 
acquired  by  the  managers  of  the  "Authors'  So- 
ciety "  in  investigating  certain  classes  of  book 
manufacture,  would  be  likely  to  be  confused 
in  regard  to  any  matters  in  which  they  have 
acquired  direct  information.  I  do  say,  how- 
ever, that  authors  who  have  not  had  this  ex- 
perience may  easily  be  misled  in  accepting  as 
a  finality,  and  as  a  proper  test  for  the  manu- 
facturing cost  of  all  volumes  of  the  same  size, 
the  figures  presented  by  the  society. 

The  more  important  consideration,  how- 
ever, is  the  fact  that  the  outlay  incurred  in 
putting  a  volume  into  type  and  in  printing,  ac- 
cording to  some  given  model,  a  first  edition 
and  subsequent  editions,  does  not  represent 
the  cost  of  "  publishing  a  book."  This  fact  is 
also,  I  admit,  referred  to  from  time  to  time  by 
the  representatives  of  the  society,  but,  although 
1  have  read  The  Author  from  the  first  number 
of  its  issue,  I  cannot  recall  that  its  writers  have 
at  any  time  given  evidence  of  a  comprehensive 
and  accurate  understanding  of  the  actual  cost  of 
carrying  on  a  publishing  business.  It  seems 
to  me  a  truism  that  this  cost,  whatever  it  may 
amountto  for  each  year  or  for  each  term  of  years, 
represents  the  cost  of  publishing  the  books 
issued  during  that  year  or  during  the  term  of 
years  considered  ;  and  that  to  arrive  at  the 
cost  of  the  publication  of  each  one  of  the  hun- 
dred books  or  of  the  thousand  books  produced 


UbeBtte 

tbors'  Son 

cietie 


194 


Hutbors  anO  pubUsbcrs 


trbe  Cost 
of  pubs 
lisbina 


during  such  term,  the  entire  cost  of  carrying 
on  the  publishing  machinery  must  be  divided 
among  them.  This  cost  includes  various 
items  referred  to  in  previous  chapters  apart 
from  and  in  addition  to  the  actual  expense  of 
producing,  according  to  a  proper  standard  of 
book  manufacture,  the  editions  of  the  books 
in  question.  The  item  of  advertising  is  one 
to  which  reference  is  usually  made  in  estimates 
presented  in  The  Author.  In  these  estimates, 
however,  it  is  not  usual  to  make  allowance 
for  continued  or  renewed  advertising  outlay 
and  the  references  as  I  recall  them  appear  to 
be  limited  to  the  actual  space  purchased  in  the 
advertising  columns  of  literary  journals.  The 
very  considerable  expenditure  which  in  the 
publishing  oflice  is  also  classed  (and  properly 
classed)  under  the  heading  of  advertising, 
which  is  required  for  catalogues,  for  printing 
and  mailing  descriptive  circulars,  for  distribut- 
ing Press  copies  and  (in  the  case  of  educa- 
tional books)  for  instructors'  copies ,  is  usually 
overlooked.  I  have  before  said,  however,  that  1 
am  in  accord  with  the  author  in  the  contention 
that  in  the  publishing  arrangement  in  which  the 
author  is  to  be  debited  with  any  portion  of  the 
advertising  outlay  this  debit  ought  not  to  in- 
clude any  charge  for  space  in  periodicals  which 
are  published  by,  and  are  entirely  owned  by  the 
publishers  of  the  book,  or  at  least  thatthecharge 
for  such  space  should  be  at  a  nominal  rate. 


(Beneral  ConsiOerattons 


195 


The  expense  incurred  in  presenting  books 
through  travelling  salesmen  to  the  booksellers, 
librarians,  and  library  committees  throughout 
the  country  must  be  taken  into  account.  For 
this  item  as  for  many  others,  the  calculation  is 
quite  different  in  the  United  States  from  that 
which  holds  good  in  Great  Britain.  The  terri- 
tory to  be  gone  over  is  very  much  greater, 
calling  for  a  larger  number  of  travellers  and 
for  longer  and  more  expensive  trips.  While 
in  Great  Britain,  the  bookseller  finds  it  to  his 
advantage,  as  a  rule,  to  go  up  to  London,  the 
great  publishing  centre,  several  times  a  year, 
the  booksellers  in  the  United  States  have  given 
up  any  regular  practice  of  making  semi-annual 
or  annual  calls  upon  eastern  publishers.  They 
expect  the  representatives  of  these  publishers 
to  come  to  them,  twice  in  the  year  or  oftener 
and  to  bring  for  their  inspection  specimens  of 
all  the  books  for  which  their  attention  is  de- 
sired. It  is  not  only  the  case  that  the  salaries 
of  these  travelling  salesmen  are  very  much 
larger  for  the  United  States  than  for  Great 
Britain,  but  also  that  their  travelling  expenses 
apart  from  salaries  are  much  heavier.  It  costs 
on  an  average  not  less  than  $10.00  a  day  to 
keep  a  traveller  going  east  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  and  in  the  territory  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  the  expenses  may  easily 
mount  up  to  $15.00  a  day.  While,  in  Great 
Britain,  a  day's  railroad  journey  will  bring  a 


in  (Breat 
Sritain 
an^  in  tbe 
tlniteb 
States 


196 


Hutbots  anty  publlBbecs 


Ube  S)i«« 

tribution 

of  Dew 

3Booii6 


traveller  within  reach  of  three  or  four  towns 
where  he  may  properly  expect  to  find  cus- 
tomers, in  various  districts  of  the  Southern 
and  Western  States  a  traveller  may  spend  an 
entire  day  in  the  journey  to  a  single  town,  and 
if,  when  the  traveller  arrives,  the  bookseller 
happens  to  be  absent  or  to  be  in  a  bad 
temper,  it  may  be  necessary  to  take  the  back- 
ward journey  on  the  same  line,  thus  spending 
twenty-four  or  thirty-six  hours'  time  and 
"mileage"  with  absolutely  no  result. 

An  author  not  infrequently  finds  ground  for 
question  or  complaint  if  he  learns  from  friend- 
ly correspondence  that  his  book  is  not  to  be 
found  on  the  counters  of  booksellers  in  this 
or  that  town  throughout  the  country.  The 
author  does  not,  however,  fully  realize  the 
very  considerable  expenditure  that  is  incurred 
by  the  publisher  in  bringing  the  book  to  the 
attention  of  as  many  booksellers  as  can  be 
reached  by  his  travellers,  while  it  is  also  not 
always  appreciated  that  the  placing  of  the 
book  upon  the  counter  depends  not  upon  the 
publisher  but  on  the  decision  of  the  man  who 
owns  the  counter. 

A  further  item  of  publishing  expenditure  is 
incurred  in  the  printing  of  volumes  for  which 
sale  is  not  found.  The  manufacturing  cost  of 
the  remainders  of  the  editions  carried  in  the 
warehouses  of  the  publishers  is  of  necessity 
as  much  a  portion  of  the  cost  of  publishing 


Oeneral  Considerations  197 


the  book  as  is  the  cost  of  producing  the  copies  «oofe6 
sold.  It  is  as  impossible  for  the  manufactur-  ^ntl^ 
ing  clerk  to  be  infallible  in  deciding  concerning 
the  number  of  copies  of  any  current  publica- 
tion, which  are  to  be  printed,  bound,  and  kept 
in  stock  as  it  is  for  the  publisher  himself  to  be 
infallible  in  the  selection  of  the  works  to  be 
issued.  The  original  edition  may  have  been 
too  large,  or,  in  connection  with  some  sudden 
cessation  of  the  demand  for  the  book  and  of 
the  public  interest  in  its  author,  the  sale  may 
have  suddenly  dropped  off  at  a  time  when 
some  later  edition  had  just  been  delivered 
from  the  binders.  Every  publisher  has  in  his 
warerooms  stacks  of  volumes  which  repre- 
sent some  such  sudden  diminution  or  cessa- 
tion of  demand.  During  a  certain  period  it 
has  possibly  not  been  practicable  to  print 
the  books  fast  enough  to  fill  orders,  and  the 
manufacturing  department  has  been  urgently 
pressed  to  hasten  forward  the  production  of 
their  supplies.  Suddenly  the  public  taste 
changes,  other  books  absorb  the  interests  of 
readers,  and  not  only  do  new  orders  fail  to 
come  in  for  new  supplies,  but  the  booksellers 
who  have  found  themselves  overstocked  re- 
quest that  they  be  permitted  to  return  copies 
which  have  been  left  on  their  hands,  copies 
which  have  previously  been  accounted  for  to 
the  author  as  sold.  If,  while  the  book  was  in 
demand,  the  publisher  should,  through  any  de- 


198 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbera 


"-Kemain. 
ben  "  of 
£t>itiotw 


lay  in  printing  further  supplies,  be  unable  to  fill 
orders  even  for  but  a  brief  time,  the  author 
would  undoubtedly  find  cause  for  complaint. 
But  it  is  not  practicable  to  keep  the  market 
supplied  without  incurring  the  risk  of  some- 
times having  over  supplies  left  on  hand,  a  risk 
which  for  a  long  series  of  books  becomes  a 
certainty. 

If  manufacturing  fallibility,  that  is  to  say, 
the  impossibility  of  estimating  with  precision 
the  exact  extent  of  the  continued  sale  that  can 
be  depended  upon,  forms  a  necessary  factor 
in  the  calculation,  publishing  fallibility,  that 
is  to  say,  the  certainty  that  in  any  given  num- 
ber of  books  a  certain  proportion  will  produce 
a  loss  instead  of  a  profit,  constitutes  a  still 
more  considerable  factor. 

It  will  be  understood  that  the  several  items 
in  the  cost  of  publishing  before  referred  to 
are  considered  here,  not  with  reference  to  the 
debits  or  credits  under  the  different  forms  of 
publishing  arrangements,  but  simply  as  con- 
stituting factors  that  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count in  any  comprehensive  and  trustworthy 
estimate  of  the  actual  expense  involved  in 
producing  books,  in  bringing  books  before 
the  public,  and  in  keeping  them  within  reach 
of  the  public.  If  a  hundred  authors,  men  of 
capacity,  writers  having  important  material  to 
bring  before  the  community,  for  which  ma- 
terial the  community  was  willing  to  make 


6eneral  Consi&crations 


199 


payment,  should  associate  themselves  to- 
gether in  a  publishing  association,  they  would 
have  to  take  into  account  each  one  of  the  fact- 
ors or  elements  in  the  cost  of  publishing 
which  have  been  here  specified.  These  fact- 
ors would  include  publishing  fallibility,  that 
is,  publishing  risk,  manufacturing  fallibility, 
that  is,  the  cost  of  over-supplies  or  "re- 
mainders," indirect  advertising  or  "  pushing," 
in  addition  to  the  actual  cash  outlay  for  ad- 
vertising space,  and  a  number  of  further  items 
making  up  the  expense  account  of  publishing 
machinery  and  publishing  management,  items 
which,  in  an  essay  like  the  present,  cannot  well 
be  specified  in  detail.  If  the  members  of  such 
an  authors'  publishing  association  should  fail 
at  the  outset  of  their  undertaking  to  take  into 
their  calculations  these  various  factors,  they 
would  certainly  find  themselves  confronted 
with  some  very  unsatisfactory  figures  later, 
when  they  came  to  make  up  their  first  year's 
balance-sheet. 

In  bringing  to  a  close  these  few  suggestions, 
which  have  been  penned  to  facilitate,  as  far  as 
practicable,  the  work  of  the  author  in  obtain- 
ing information  and  in  effecting  his  publishing 
arrangements,  I  have  only  to  repeat,  first,  that 
they  are  addressed  particularly  to  writers 
whose  experience  is  still  to  come.  Authors 
who  have  already  seen  their  names  on  various 
title-pages,  who  have  become  hardened,  so  to 


publisbing 


200 


Hutbors  an^  pubUsbers 


Ubese 
SudSesta 

ions 
B^^res9e^ 
to  fioung 


Speak,  to  publishers  and  critics,  may  find  in 
these  pages  some  statements  that  do  not  en- 
tirely accord  with  their  own  experience.  We 
can  merely  claim  for  our  suggestions  that  they 
have  been  carefully  considered  and  are  as  sub- 
stantially accurate  as  any  general  statements 
can  be,  while  admitting  that,  like  all  general 
statements,  they  are  subject  to  not  a  few  ex- 
ceptions. 

It  is  my  opinion  that,  in  one  way  or  another, 
all  literary  work  that  deserves  to  live  (in  addi- 
tion to  a  good  deal  that  does  not)  succeeds  in 
making  its  way  into  print,  and  in  getting  itself 
placed  before  the  public.  I  do  not  believe  that 
our  American  prairies  conceal  any  Charlotte 
Brontes,  to  whom  the  opportunity  for  ex- 
pression and  fame  has  been  denied,  or  that 
a  careful  search  through  American  villages 
would  develop  any  "mute,  inglorious  Mil- 
tons,"  rusting  away  their  undeveloped  lives. 
Opportunity  for  expression  can,  with  a  little 
patience  and  persistence,  be  secured  by  every 
writer  who  has  anything  to  say  to  his  fellow- 
men  (and  also,  unfortunately,  by  a  good  many 
who  have  nothing)  ;  and  every  literary  aspir- 
ant can  safely  indulge  in  the  hope  that  if  pos- 
terity has  need  of  his  impressions,  the  particu- 
lar "sands  of  time  "  on  which  these  have  been 
placed  will  become  stone  to  preserve  them. 

As  has  been  indicated  in  the  foregoing 
pages,  I  am  further  of  opinion  that  such  diffi- 


General  Considerations 


20I 


culties  as  have  arisen  between  authors  and 
publishers  (and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  with 
the  clients  of  American  publishers  difficulties 
have  been  but  inconsiderable)  have,  in  the 
main,  been  caused  by  a  lack  of  understanding 
on  the  part  of  the  authors  of  the  actual  con- 
ditions belonging  to  the  work  of  publishing 
books  and  to  the  circulation  of  erroneous  as- 
sumptions and  misleading  impressions  con- 
cerning these  conditions.  It  is,  therefore,  a 
ground  for  congratulation  that,  under  the 
initiative  of  authors'  societies  and  authors' 
guilds,  a  larger  measure  of  attention  than  ever 
before  is  now  being  given  by  authors  to  a 
personal  study  of  the  details  of  the  work  of 
manufacturing  books  and  of  placing  them  be- 
fore the  public.  I  trust  that  to  the  informa- 
tion that  is  thus  being  brought  together  under 
the  direction  of  these  authors'  societies  may, 
in  the  near  future,  be  added  the  results  of  the 
experience  of  authors'  publishing  associations, 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  in  the  direct 
management  of  publishing  undertakings. 
If,  further,  there  may  come  into  existence, 
by  means  of  literary  Courts  of  Arbitration, 
a  body  of  decisions  to  be  accepted  by  both 
authors  and  publishers  as  guides  and  pre- 
cedents, covering  all  classes  of  questions  and 
issues  arising  out  of  publishing  relations,  the 
opportunities  for  an  untrustworthy  publisher 
to  take  undue  advantage  of  the  confidence  of 


Xiterarc 
Coutts 


203 


Hutbots  an^  publisbers 


TCbe 
lecsenintf 

of 
'Qlnfoun^e^ 
Critici«m 


his  clients  should  be  reduced  to  a  minimum, 
while  there  will  be  no  excuse  for  the  continu- 
ance of  reckless  and  unfounded  criticisms  and 
accusations  on  the  part  of  ignorant,  ill-in- 
formed, or  heedless  authors. 

If  this  manual  may  be  fortunate  enough  to 
prove  of  service  in  helping  to  bring  about 
these  desirable  results,  the  purpose  of  its  pub- 
lication will  have  been  accomplished. 


Qn  Securing  Coppriabt. 


THE  LAW  OF  COPYRIGHT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


203 


Text  of  the  Statutes  in  Force  Xuly  i,  189^^ 

Section  4948.  All  records  and  other  things  relating  to 
copyrights  and  required  by  law  to  be  preserved,  shall  be 
under  the  control  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  and  kept  and 
preserved  in  the  Library  of  Congress  ;  and  the  Librarian  of 
Congress  shall  have  the  immediate  care  and  supervision 
thereof,  and,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Joint  Committee 
of  Congress  on  the  Library,  shall  perform  all  acts  and  duties 
required  by  law  touching  copyrights. 

Sec.  4949.  The  seal  provided  for  the  office  of  the  Libra- 
rian of  Congress  shall  be  the  seal  thereof,  and  by  it  all  records 
and  papers  issued  from  the  office,  and  to  be  used  in  evidence, 
shall  be  authenticated. 

Sec.  4950.  The  Librarian  of  Congress  shall  give  a  bond, 
with  sureties,  to  the  Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  in  the 
sum  of  five  thousand  dollars,  with  the  condition  that  he  will 

'  From  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States,  in 
force  December  i,  1873,  as  amended  by  the  Acts  of  June, 
18,  1874,  August  I,  1882,  March  3,  1891,  and  March  2, 
1895. 


"Cbe 

law  of 

<topsri0bt 


204 


Hutbors  anC)  publisbers 


Xibf  render  to  the  proper  officers  of  the  Treasury  a  true  account 

%a.w  of        of  all  moneys  received  by  virtue  of  his  office. 

Copvrtflbt         Sec.   4951.    The  Librarian  of  Congress  shall  make  an 

annual  report  to  Congress  of  the  number  and  description  of 

copyright  publications  for  which  entries  have  been  made 

during  the  year. 

Sec.  4952.  The  author,  inventor,  designer,  or  proprietor 
of  any  book,  map,  chart,  dramatic  or  musical  composition, 
engraving,  cut,  print,  or  photograph  or  negative  thereof,  or 
of  a  painting,  drawing,  chromo,  statuary,  and  of  models  or 
designs  intended  to  be  perfected  as  works  of  the  fine  arts, 
and  the  executors,  administrators,  or  assigns  of  any  such 
person,  shall,  upon  complying  with  the  provisions  of  this 
chapter,  have  the  sole  liberty  of  printing,  reprinting,  pub- 
lishing, completing,  copying,  executing,  finishing,  and  vend- 
ing the  same  ;  and,  in  the  case  of  a  dramatic  composition, 
of  publicly  performing  or  representing  it,  or  causing  it  to  be 
performed  or  represented  by  others.  And  authors  or  their 
assigns  shall  have  exclusive  right  to  dramatize  or  translate 
any  of  their  works  for  which  copyright  shall  have  been 
obtained  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

Sec.  4953.  Copyrights  shall  be  granted  for  the  term  of 
twenty-eight  years  from  the  time  of  recording  the  title 
thereof,  in  the  manner  hereinafter  directed. 

Sec.  4954.  The  author,  inventor,  or  designer,  if  he  be  still 
living,  or  his  widow  or  children,  if  he  be  dead,  shall  have  the 
same  exclusive  right  continued  for  the  further  term  of  four- 
teen years,  upon  recording  the  title  of  the  work  or  descrip- 
tion of  the  article  so  secured  a  second  time,  and  complying 
with  all  other  regulations  in  regard  to  original  copyrights, 
within  six  months  before  the  expiration  of  the  first  term. 
And  such  person  shall,  within  two  months  from  the  date  of 
said  renewal,  cause  a  copy  of  the  record  thereof  to  be  pub- 
lished in  one  or  more  newspapers,  printed  in  the  United 
States,  for  the  space  of  four  weeks. 

Sec.  4955.  Copyrights  shall  be  assignable  in  law  by  any 
instrument  of  writing,  and  such  assignment  shall  be  re- 


On  Securtnfl  (Eopsriobt 


205 


corded  in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  within  sixty 
days  after  its  execution  ;  in  default  of  which  it  shall  be  void 
as  against  any  subsequent  purchaser  or  mortgagee  for  a  valu- 
able consideration,  without  notice. 

Sec.  4956.  No  person  shall  be  entitled  to  a  copyright  un- 
less he  shall,  on  or  before  the  day  of  publication,  in  this  or 
any  foreign  country,  deliver  at  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of 
Congress,  or  deposit  in  the  mail  within  the  United  States, 
addrersed  to  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington, 
District  of  Columbia;  a  printed  copy  of  the  title  of  the  book, 
map,  chart,  dramatic  or  musical  composition,  engraving,  cut, 
print,  photograph,  or  chromo,  or  a  description  of  the  paint- 
ing, drawing,  statue,  statuary,  or  a  model  or  design,  for  a 
work  of  the  fine  arts,  for  which  he  desires  a  copyright ;  nor 
unless  he  shall  also,  not  later  than  the  day  of  the  publication 
thereof,  in  this  or  any  foreign  country,  deliver  at  the  office 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  District  of 
Columbia,  or  deposit  in  the  mail,  within  the  United  States, 
addressed  to  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  two  copies  of  such  copyright  book,  map, 
chart,  dramatic  or  musical  composition,  engraving,  chromo, 
cut,  print,  or  photograph,  or  in  case  of  a  painting,  drawing, 
statue,  statuary,  model,  or  design  for  a  work  of  the  fine 
arts,  a  photograph  of  the  same  :  Provided,  That  in  the 
case  of  a  book,  photograph,  chromo,  or  lithograph,  the  two 
copies  of  the  same  required  to  be  delivered  or  deposited  as 
above,  shall  be  printed  from  type  set  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States,  or  from  plates  made  therefi-om,  or  from 
negatives,  or  drawings  on  stone  made  within  the  limits  of 
the  United  States,  or  from  transfers  made  therefrom.  During 
the  existence  of  such  copyright  the  importation  into  the 
United  States  of  any  book,  chromo,  lithograph,  or  photo- 
graph, so  copyrighted,  or  any  edition  or  editions  thereof,  or 
any  plates  of  the  same  not  made  fi-om  type  set,  negatives,  or 
drawings  on  stone  made  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be,  and  it  is  hereby  prohibited,  except  in  the 
cases  specified  in  paragraphs  512  to  516,  inclusive,  in  section 


Xawof 
(Coptcigbt 


206 


Hutbors  and  publisbers 


Ube 

law  of 

Copcrigbt 


2  of  the  act  entitled,'  an  act  to  reduce  the  revenue  and 
equalize  the  duties  on  imports  and  for  other  purposes,  ap- 
proved October  i ,  1 890  ;  and  except  in  the  case  of  persons 
purchasing  for  use  and  not  for  sale,  who  import,  subject  to 
the  duty  thereon,  not  more  than  two  copies  of  such  book  at 
any  one  time  ;  and,  except  in  the  case  of  newspapers  and 
magazines,  not  containing  in  whole  or  in  part  matter  copy- 
righted under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  unauthorized  by  the 
author,  which  are  hereby  exempted  fi-om  prohibition  of  im- 
portation : 

Provided,  nevertheless,  That  in  the  case  of  books  in  for- 
eign languages,  of  which  only  translations  in  English  are 
copyrighted,  the  prohibition  of  importation  shall  apply  only 
to  the  translation  of  the  same,  and  the  importation  of  the 
books  in  the  original  language  shall  be  permitted. 

Sec.  4957.  The  Librarian  of  Congress  shall  record  the 
name  of  such  copyright  book,  or  other  article,  forthwith  in 
a  book  to  be  kept  for  that  purpose,  in  the  words  following  : 
"  Library  of  Congress,  to  wit  :  Be  it  remembered,  that  on 

the day  of A.  B.,  of hath  deposited 

in  this  office  the  title  of  a  book,  (map,  chart,  or  otherwise, 
as  the  case  may  be,  or  description  of  the  article,)  the  title 
or  description  of  which  is  in  the  following  words,  to  wit : 
(here  insert  the  title  or  description,)  the  right  whereof  he 
claims  as  author,  (originator,  or  proprietor,  as  the  case  may 
be,)  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  the  United  States  re- 
specting copyrights.  C.  D.,  Library  of  Congress."  And 
he  shall  give  a  copy  of  the  title  or  description,  under  the  seal 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  to  the  proprietor,  whenever  he 
shall  require  it. 

Sec,  4958,  The  Librarian  of  Congress  shall  receive  from 


'  Note. — These  paragraphs  of  the  Tariff  act  permit  free 
importation  of  books,  etc.,  more  than  twenty  years  old, 
books  in  foreign  languages,  publications  imported  by  the 
Government,  or  for  societies,  colleges,  etc.,  and  libraries 
which  have  been  in  use  one  or  more  years,  brought  from 
abroad  by  persons  or  families  and  not  for  sale. 


©n  Securing  Copprigbt 


207 


the  persons  to  whom  the  services  designated  are  rendered, 
the  following  fees  :  i .  For  recording  the  title  or  description 
of  any  copyright  book  or  other  article,  fifty  cents.  2.  For 
every  copy  under  seal  of  such  record  actually  given  to  the 
person  claiming  the  copyright,  or  his  assigns,  fifty  cents. 
3.  For  recording  and  certifying  any  instrument  of  writing 
for  the  assignment  of  a  copyright,  one  dollar.  4.  For  every 
copy  of  an  assignment,  one  dollar.  All  fees  so  received 
shall  be  paid  into  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  ;  Pro- 
vided, That  the  charge  for  recording  the  title  or  description 
of  any  article  entered  for  copyright,  the  production  of  a  per- 
son not  a  citizen  or  resident  of  the  United  States,  shall  be 
one  dollar,  to  be  paid  as  above  into  the  Treasury  of  the 
United  States,  to  defray  the  expenses  of  lists  of  copyrighted 
articles  as  hereinafter  provided  for. 

And  it  is  hereby  made  the  duty  of  the  Librarian  of  Con- 
gress to  furnish  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  copies  of  the 
entries  of  titles  of  all  books  and  other  articles  wherein  the 
copyright  had  been  completed  by  the  deposit  of  two  copies 
of  such  book  printed  from  type  set  within  the  limits  of  the 
United  States,  in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  this  act, 
and  by  the  deposit  of  two  copies  of  such  other  article  made 
or  produced  in  the  United  States  ;  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  is  hereby  directed  to  prepare  and  print,  at  intervals 
of  not  more  than  a  week,  catalogues  of  such  title-entries  for 
distribution  to  the  collectors  of  customs  of  the  United  States 
and  to  the  postmasters  of  all  post  offices  receiving  foreign 
mails,  and  such  weekly  lists,  as  they  are  issued,  shall  be  furn- 
ished to  all  parties  desiring  them,  at  a  sum  not  exceeding 
five  dollars  per  annum  ;  and  the  Secretary  and  the  Post- 
master General  are  hereby  empowered  and  required  to  make 
and  enforce  such  rules  and  regulations  as  shall  prevent  the 
importation  into  the  United  States,  except  upon  the  con- 
ditions above  specified,  of  all  articles  prohibited  by  this 
act. 

Sec.  4959.  The  proprietor  of  every  copyright  book  or 
other  article  shall  deliver  at  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of 


Ube 

law  of 

Coptcigbt 


208 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


Ube 

Xawof 

Copsridbt 


Congress,  or  deposit  in  the  mail,  addressed  to  the  Librarian 
of  Congress,  at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia,  a  copy 
of  every  subsequent  edition  wherein  any  substantial  changes 
shall  be  made :  Trovided,  however,  That  the  alterations, 
revisions,  and  additions  made  to  books  by  foreign  authors, 
heretofore  published,  of  which  new  editions  shall  appear 
subsequently  to  the  taking  effect  of  this  act,  shall  be  held 
and  deemed  capable  of  being  copyrighted  as  above  provided 
for  in  this  act,  unless  they  form  a  part  of  the  series  in  course 
of  publication  at  the  time  this  act  shall  take  effect. 

Sec.  4960.  For  every  failure  on  the  part  of  the  proprietor 
of  any  copyright  to  deliver,  or  deposit  in  the  mail,  either  of 
the  published  copies,  or  description,  or  photograph,  required 
by  sections  4956  and  4959,  the  proprietor  of  the  copyright 
shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  twenty-five  dollars,  to  be  re- 
covered by  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  in  the  name  of  the 
United  States,  in  an  action  in  the  nature  of  an  action  of 
debt,  in  any  district  court  of  the  United  States  within  the 
jurisdiction  of  which  the  delinquent  may  reside  or  be  found. 

Sec.  4961 .  The  postmaster  to  whom  such  copyright  book, 
title,  or  other  article  is  delivered,  shall,  if  requested,  give  a 
receipt  therefor  ;  and  when  so  delivered  he  shall  mail  it  to 
its  destination. 

Sec.  4962.  No  person  shall  maintain  an  action  for  the  in- 
fringement of  his  copyright  unless  he  shall  give  notice  there- 
of by  inserting  in  the  several  copies  of  every  edition  pub- 
lished, on  the  title-page,  or  the  page  immediately  following, 
if  it  be  a  book ;  or  if  a  map,  chart,  musical  composition, 
print,  cut,  engraving,  photograph,  painting,  drawing,  chro- 
mo,  statue,  statuary,  or  model  or  design  intended  to  be 
perfected  and  completed  as  a  work  of  the  fine  arts,  by  in- 
scribing upon  some  visible  portion  thereof,  or  on  the  sub- 
stance on  which  the  same  shall  be  mounted,  the  following 
words,  viz.:  "  Entered,  according  to  act  of  Congress,  in  the 
year ,  by  A.  B.,  in  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Con- 
gress, at  Washington  "  ;  or,  at  his  option,  the  word  "  Copy- 
right," together  with  the  year  the  copyright  was  entered. 


®n  Secuting  Copprldbt 


209 


and  the  name  of  the  party  by  whom  it  was  taken  out,  thus  : 
"Copyright,  18—,  by  A.  B." 

Sec.  4963.  Every  person  who  shall  insert  or  impress  such 
notice,  or  words  of  the  same  purport,  in  or  upon  any  book, 
map,  chart,  dramatic  or  musical  composition,  print,  cut,  en- 
graving, or  photograph,  or  other  article,  for  which  he  has 
not  obtained  a  copyright,  shall  be  liable  to  a  penalty  of  one 
hundred  dollars,  recoverable  one-half  for  the  person  who 
shall  sue  for  such  penalty,  and  one-half  to  the  use  of  the 
United  States. 

Sec.  4964.  Every  person  who,  after  the  recording  of  the 
title  of  any  book  and  the  depositing  of  two  copies  of  such 
book  as  provided  by  this  act,  shall,  contrary  to  the  provi- 
sions of  this  act,  within  the  term  limited,  and  without  the 
consent  of  the  proprietor  of  the  copyright  first  obtained  in 
writing,  signed  in  the  presence  of  two  or  more  witnesses, 
print,  publish,  dramatize,  translate,  or  import,  or,  knowing 
the  same  to  be  so  printed,  published,  dramatized,  translated, 
or  imported,  shall  sell  or  expose  for  sale  any  copy  of  such 
book,  shall  forfeit  every  copy  thereof  to  such  proprietor,  and 
shall  also  forfeit  and  pay  such  damages  as  may  be  recovered 
in  a  civil  action  by  such  proprietor  in  any  court  of  competent 
jurisdiction. 

Sec.  4965.  If  any  person,  after  the  recording  of  the  title 
of  any  map,  chart,  dramatic  or  musical  composition,  print, 
cut,  engraving,  or  photograph,  or  chromo,  or  of  the  de- 
scription of  any  painting,  drawing,  statue,  statuary,  or  model 
or  design  intended  to  be  perfected  and  executed  as  a  work  of 
the  fine  arts  as  provided  by  this  act,  shall,  within  the  term 
limited,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  this  act,  and  without 
the  consent  of  the  proprietor  of  the  copyright  first  obtained 
in  writing,  signed  in  presence  of  two  or  more  witnesses,  en- 
grave, etch,  work,  copy,  print,  publish,  dramatize,  translate, 
or  import,  either  in  whole  or  in  part,  or  by  varying  the  main 
design,  with  intent  to  evade  the  law,  or  knowing  the  same 
to  be  so  printed,  published,  dramatized,  translated,  or  im- 
ported, shall  sell  or  expose  to  sale  any  copy  of  such  map  or 


Ube 

Xawof 

Copcrigbt 


2IO 


Hutbors  anO  publtsbcrs 


"Cbe  other  article,  as  aforesaid,  he  shall  forfeit  to  the  proprietor  all 
Xawof  the  plates  on  which  the  same  shall  be  copied,  and  every 
Copfiriflbt  sheet  thereof,  either  copied  or  printed,  and  shall  further  for- 
feit one  dollar  for  every  sheet  of  the  same  found  in  his  pos- 
session, either  printing,  printed,  copied,  published,  imported, 
or  exposed  for  sale  ;  and  in  case  of  a  painting,  statue,  or 
statuary,  he  shall  forfeit  ten  dollars  for  every  copy  of  the 
same  in  his  possession,  or  by  him  sold  or  exposed  for  sale  ; 
one-half  thereof  to  the  proprietor  and  the  other  half  to  the 
use  of  the  United  States.  Trovided,  however,  That  in  case 
of  any  such  infringement  of  the  copyright  of  a  photograph 
made  from  any  object  not  a  work  of  the  fine  arts,  the  sum  to 
be  recovered  in  any  action  brought  under  the  provisions  of  this 
section  shall  be  not  less  than  one  hundred  dollars,  nor  more 
than  five  thousand  dollars,  and,  "Provided  further,  That  in 
case  of  any  such  infringement  of  the  copyright  of  a  painting, 
drawing,  statue,  engraving,  etching,  print,  or  model  or  de- 
sign for  a  work  of  the  fine  arts  or  of  a  photograph  of  a  work 
of  the  fine  arts,  the  sum  to  be  recovered  in  any  action  brought 
through  the  provisions  of  this  section  shall  be  not  less  than 
two  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  not  more  than  ten  thou- 
sand dollars.  One-half  of  all  the  foregoing  penalties  shall  go 
to  the  proprietors  of  the  copyright  and  the  other  half  to  the 
use  of  the  United  States.^ 

Sec.  4966.  Any  person  publicly  performing  or  represent- 
ing any  dramatic  composition  for  which  a  copyright  has 
been  obtained,  without  the  consent  of  the  proprietor  thereof, 
or  his  heirs  or  assigns,  shall  be  liable  for  damages  therefor  ; 
such  damages  in  all  cases  to  be  assessed  at  such  sum,  not 
less  than  one  hundred  dollars  for  the  first,  and  fifty  dollars 
for  every  subsequent  perlormance,  as  to  the  court  shall 
appear  to  be  just. 

Sec.  4967.  Every  person  who  shall  print  or  publish  any 
manuscript  whatever,  without  the  consent  of  the  author  or 


^  This  is  the  provision  of  the  act  of  March,   1891,  as 
amended  by  the  Covert  act  of  March,  1895. 


®n  Securing  Copsrigbt 


211 


proprietor  first  obtained,  shall  be  liable  to  the  author  or 
proprietor  for  all  damages  occasioned  by  such  Injury. 

Sec.  4968.  No  action  shall  be  maintained  in  any  case  of 
forfeiture  or  penalty  under  the  copyright  laws,  unless  the 
same  is  commenced  within  two  years  after  the  cause  of 
action  has  arisen. 

Sec.  4969.  In  all  actions  arising  under  the  laws  respecting 
copyrights  the  defendant  may  plead  the  general  issue,  and 
give  the  special  matter  in  evidence. 

Sec.  4970.  The  circuit  courts,  and  district  courts  having 
the  jurisdiction  of  circuit  courts,  shall  have  power,  upon  bill 
in  equity,  filed  by  any  party  aggrieved,  to  grant  injunctions 
to  prevent  the  violation  of  any  right  secured  by  the  laws  re- 
specting copyrights,  according  to  the  course  and  principles 
of  courts  of  equity,  on  such  terms  as  the  court  may  deem 
reasonable. 

Sec.  — .  [Approved  June  18,  1874,  to  take  effect  August 
1,  1874.]  In  the  construction  of  this  act  the  words  "  en- 
graving," "cut,"  and  "print,"  shall  be  applied  only  to 
pictorial  illustrations  or  works  connected  with  the  fine  arts, 
and  no  prints  or  labels  designed  to  be  used  for  any  other 
articles  of  manufacture  shall  be  entered  under  the  copyright 
law,  but  may  be  registered  in  the  Patent  Office.  And  the 
Commissioner  of  Patents  is  hereby  charged  with  the  super- 
vision and  control  of  the  entry  or  registry  of  such  prints  or 
labels,  in  conformity  with  the  regulations  provided  by  law 
as  to  copyright  of  prints,  except  that  there  shall  be  paid  for 
recording  the  title  of  any  print  or  label,  not  a  trade-mark, 
six  dollars,  which  shall  cover  the  expense  of  furnishing  a 
copy  of  the  record,  under  the  seal  of  the  Commissioner  of 
Patents,  to  the  party  entering  the  same. 

Sec. — .  [Approved  August  i,  1882.]  That  manufact- 
urers of  designs  for  molded  decorative  articles,  tiles,  plaques, 
or  articles  of  pottery  or  metal,  subject  to  copyright,  may  put 
the  copyright  mark  prescribed  by  section  4962  of  the  Re- 
vised Statutes,  and  acts  additional  thereto,  upon  the  back  or 
bottom  of  such  articles,  or  in  such  other  place  upon  them  as 


Ube 

law  of 

Copcrigbt 


2X3 


Butbors  and  publisbers 


Securing 
Copvciflbts 


it  has  heretofore  been  usual  for  manufacturers  of  such  arti- 
cles to  employ  for  the  placing  of  manufacturers',  merchants', 
and  trade-marks  thereon. 

Sec.  II.  [Approved  March  3,  1891,  to  take  effect  July 
I,  1 89 1.]  That  for  the  purpose  of  this  act  each  volume  of 
a  book  in  two  or  more  volumes,  when  such  volumes  are 
published  separately,  and  the  first  one  shall  not  have  been 
issued  before  this  act  shall  take  effect,  and  each  number  of 
a  periodical  shall  be  considered  an  independent  publication, 
subject  to  the  form  of  copyrighting  as  above. 

Sec.  12.  That  this  act  shall  go  into  effect  on  the  first  day 
of  July,  Anno  Domini  eighteen  hundred  and  ninety-one. 

Sec.  13.  [Approved  March  3,  1891,  to  take  effect  July  i, 
1 89 1.]  That  this  act  shall  only  apply  to  a  citizen  or  sub- 
ject of  a  foreign  state  or  nation  when  such  foreign  state  or 
nation  permits  to  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  America 
the  benefit  of  copyright  on  substantially  the  same  basis  as 
to  its  own  citizens  ;  or  when  such  foreign  state  or  nation  is 
a  party  to  an  international  agreement  which  provides  for 
reciprocity  in  the  granting  of  copyright,  by  the  terms  of 
which  agreement  the  United  States  of  America  may  at  its 
pleasure  become  a  party  to  such  agreement.  The  existence 
of  either  of  the  conditions  aforesaid  shall  be  determined  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  by  proclamation  made 
from  time  to  time  as  the  purposes  of  this  act  may  require. 


Directions  for  Securing  Copyrights. 


Under  the  Revised  Acts  of  Congress,  including  the  Provisions 
for  Foreign  Copyright,  by  Act  of  March  3,  1891. 

I .  A  printed  copy  of  the  title  of  the  book,  map,  chart, 
dramatic  or  musical  composition,  engraving,  cut,  print, 
photograph,  or  chromo,  or  a  description  of  the  painting, 
drawing,  statue,  statuary,  or  model  or  design  for  a  work  of 
the  fine  arts,  for  which  copyright  is  desired,  must  be  delivered 
to  the  Librarian  of  Congress  or  deposited  in  the  mail,  within 


On  Securing  Copsrtabt 


213 


the  United  States,  prepaid,  addressed  Librarian  of  Con- 
gress, Washington,  D.  C.  This  may  be  done  on  or  before 
day  of  publication  in  this  or  any  foreign  country. 

The  printed  title  required  may  be  a  copy  of  the  title-page 
of  such  publications  as  have  title-pages.  In  other  cases 
the  title  must  be  printed  expressly  for  copyright  entry, 
with  the  name  of  claimant  of  copyright.  The  style  of  type 
is  immaterial,  and  the  print  of  a  typewriter  will  be  accepted. 
But  a  separate  title  is  required  for  each  entry,  and  each  title 
must  be  printed  on  paper  as  large  as  commercial  note.  The 
title  of  a  periodical  must  include  the  date  and  number  ;  and 
each  number  of  the  periodical  requires  a  separate  entry  of 
copyright. 

Blank  forms  of  application  furnished  to  applicants. 

2.  The  legal  fee  for  recording  each  copyright  claim  is  50 
cents,  and  for  a  copy  of  this  record  (or  certificate  of  copyright 
under  seal  of  the  office)  an  additional  fee  of  50  cents  is  re- 
quired, making  $1,  if  certificate  is  wanted,  which  will  be 
mailed  as  soon  as  reached  in  the  records. 

No  money  is  to  be  placed  in  any  package  of  books,  music, 
or  other  publications.  A  bank  check,  to  order,  avoids  all 
risk. 

For  publications  which  are  the  productions  of  persons 
not  citizens  or  residents  of  the  United  States,  the  fee  for 
recording  the  title  is  $1,  and  50  cents  additional  for  a  copy 
of  the  record.  Certificates  covering  more  than  one  entry  in 
one  certificate  are  not  issued. 

Bank  checks,  money  orders,  and  currency  only  taken  for 
fees.    No  postage  stamps  received. 

3.  Not  later  than  the  day  of  publication  in  this  country 
or  abroad,  two  complete  copies  of  the  best  edition  of  each 
book  or  other  article  must  be  delivered,  or  deposited  in  the 
mail  within  the  United  States,  addressed  Librarian  of  Con- 
gress, IVashington,  D.  C,  to  perfect  the  copyright. 

The  freight  or  postage  must  be  prepaid,  or  the  publica- 
tions inclosed  in  parcels  covered  by  printed  penalty  labels, 
furnished  by  the  Librarian,  in  which  case  they  will  come 


Secnrina 
Copccigbts 


214 


Hutbors  an^  pubUsbers 


Securing  •'•^^  ^V  "^^^  ('"'*  express),  without  limit  of  weight,  accord- 
Copsr'flbta  ing  to  rulings  of  the  Post-Office  Department.  Books  must 
be  printed  from  type  set  in  the  United  States,  or  from 
plates  made  therefrom  ;  photographs  from  negatives  made 
in  the  United  States  ;  chromos  and  lithographs  from  draw- 
ings on  stone  or  transfers  therefrom  made  in  the  United 
States. 

Without  the  deposit  of  copies  above  required  the  copy- 
right is  void,  and  a  penalty  of  $25  is  incurred.  No  copy  is 
required  to  be  deposited  elsewhere. 

The  law  requires  one  copy  of  each  new  edition,  wherein 
any  substantial  changes  are  made,  to  be  deposited  with  the 
Librarian  of  Congress. 

4.  No  copyright  is  valid  unless  notice  is  given  by  inserting 
in  every  copy  published,  on  the  title-page  or  the  page  fol- 
lowing, if  it  be  a  book ;  or  if  a  map,  chart,  musical  com- 
position, print,  cut,  engraving,  photograph,  painting,  draw- 
ing, chromo,  statue,  statuary,  or  model  or  design  intended 
to  be  perfected  as  a  work  of  the  fine  arts,  by  inscribing  upon 
some  portion  thereof,  or  on  the  substance  on  which  the  same 
is  mounted,  the  following  words,  viz. :  "  Entered  according 

to  act  of  Congress,  in  the  year ,  bj> ,  in  the 

office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  fVashington,"  or,  at 
the  option  of  the  person  entering  the  copyright,  the  words: 
"  Copj>right,  18—,  bjf ." 

The  law  imposes  a  penalty  of  $100  upon  any  person  who 
has  not  obtained  copyright  who  shall  insert  the  notice,  "En- 
tered according  to  act  of  Congress,"  or  "  Copyright,"  or 
words  of  the  same  import,  in  or  upon  any  book  or  other 
article. 

5.  The  copyright  law  secures  to  authors  and  their  assigns 
the  exclusive  right  to  translate  or  to  dramatize  any  of  their 
works ;  no  notice  or  record  is  required  to  enforce  this 
right. 

6.  The  original  term  of  a  copyright  runs  for  twenty-eight 
years.  JVithin  six  months  before  the  end  of  that  time,  the 
author  or  designer,  or  his  widow  or  children,  may  secure  a 


Qn  Securtnd  Copi^ridbt 


215 


renewal  for  the  further  term  of  fourteen  years,  making  forty- 
two  years  in  all.  Applications  for  renewal  must  be  accom- 
panied by  a  printed  title  and  fee ;  and  by  explicit  statement 
of  ownership,  in  the  case  of  the  author  or  of  relationship,  in 
the  case  of  his  heirs,  and  must  state  definitely  the  date  and 
place  of  entry  of  the  original  copyright.  Within  two  months 
from  date  of  renewal  the  record  thereof  must  be  advertised 
in  an  American  newspaper  for  four  weeks. 

7.  The  time  of  publication  is  not  limited  by  any  law  or 
regulation,  but  the  courts  have  held  that  it  should  take  place 
"  within  a  reasonable  time."  A  copyright  may  be  secured 
for  a  projected  as  well  as  for  a  completed  work.  But  the 
law  provides  for  no  caveat,  or  notice  of  interference — only 
for  actual  entry  of  title. 

8.  Copyrights  are  assignable  by  any  instrument  of  writing. 
Such  assignment  to  be  valid,  is  to  be  recorded  in  the  office 
of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  within  sixty  days  fi-om  exe- 
cution. The  fee  for  this  record  and  certificate  is  one  dollar, 
and  for  a  certified  copy  of  any  record  of  assignment  one 
dollar. 

9.  A  copy  of  the  record  (or  duplicate  certificate)  of  any 
copyright  entry  will  be  furnished,  under  seal  of  the  office,  at 
the  rate  of  fifty  cents  each. 

10.  In  the  case  of  books  published  in  more  than  one  vol- 
ume, or  of  periodicals  published  in  numbers,  or  of  engrav- 
ings, photographs,  or  other  articles  published  with  varia- 
tions, a  copyright  must  be  entered  for  each  volume  or  part 
of  a  book,  or  number  of  a  periodical,  or  variety,  as  to  style, 
title,  or  inscription,  of  any  other  article.  To  complete  the 
copyright  on  a  book  published  serially  in  a  periodical,  two 
copies  of  each  serial  part  as  well  as  of  the  completed  work 
(if  published  separately)  should  be  deposited. 

1 1 .  To  secure  copyright  for  a  painting,  statue,  or  model 
or  design  intended  to  be  perfected  as  a  work  of  the  fine  arts, 
a  definite  title  and  description  must  accompany  the  applica- 
tion for  copyright,  and  a  mounted  photograph  of  the  same, 
as  large  as  "  cabinet  size,"  mailed  to  the  Librarian  of  Con- 


Secucing 
Copi2ri0bts 


2l6 


Butbors  anO  publisbets 


Securina      S^^^  "o*  ^^t^""  ^^^^  ^^^  ^Y  °^  publication  of  the  work  or 
Copctiflbte     design. 

The  fine  arts,  for  copyright  purposes,  include  only  paint- 
ing and  sculpture,  and  articles  of  merely  ornamental  and 
decorative  art  should  be  sent  to  the  Patent  Office,  as  subjects 
for  design  patents. 

12.  Copyrights  can  not  be  granted  upon  trade-marks,  nor 
upon  names  of  companies,  libraries,  or  articles,  nor  upon 
an  idea  or  device,  nor  upon  prints  or  labels  intended  to  be 
used  for  any  article  of  manufacture.  If  protection  for  such 
names  or  labels  is  desired,  application  must  be  made  to  the 
Patent  Office,  where  they  are  registered,  if  admitted,  at  a  fee 
of  $6  for  labels,  and  $25  for  trade-marks. 

13.  The  provisions  as  to  copyright  entry  in  the  United 
States  by  foreign  authors,  etc.,  by  act  of  Congress  approved 
March  3,  1891  (which  took  effect  July  1,  1891),  are  the  same 
as  the  foregoing,  except  as  to  productions  of  persons  not 
citizens  or  residents,  which  must  cover  return  postages,  and 
are  $1  for  entry,  or  $1.50  for  entry  and  certificate  of  entry 
(equivalent  to  45.  ^d.  or  65.  "jd.).  All  publications  must  be 
delivered  to  the  Librarian  at  Washington  free  of  charge. 
The  free  penalty  labels  can  not  be  used  outside  of  the  United 
States. 

The  right  of  citizens  or  subjects  of  a  foreign  nation  to 
copyright  in  the  United  States  extends  by  Presidential 
proclamations  to  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Italy, 
Spain,  Portugal,  Belgium,  Denmark,  and  Switzeriand ;  and 
Americans  can  secure  copyright  in  those  countries.  For 
this,  direct  arrangements  must  be  made  abroad.  The  Li- 
brarian of  Congress  can  not  take  charge  of  any  foreign  copy- 
right business.' 

1 4.  Every  application  for  a  copyright  should  state  distinctly 

'  American  authors,  artists,  and  composers  who  desire  to 
secure  for  their  productions  the  protection  of  copyright  in 
the  States  with  which  the  United  States  has  entered  into 
copyright  relations,  must  fulfil  the  requirements  of  the 
statutes  of  those  States. — Editor. 


®n  Securing  Copyrfdbt 


217 


the  full  name  and  residence  of  the  claimant,  whether  book 
or  other  publication,  and  whether  the  right  is  claimed  as 
author,  designer,  or  proprietor.  No  affidavit  or  witness  to 
the  application  is  required. 

Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress, 
Washington,  1895. 

Foreign  States  with  which  the  United  States  is 
in  Copyright  Relations. 

The  provisions  of  the  Act  of  189 1  having  to 
do  with  International  Copyright,  are  (January, 
1897)  in  force  with  the  following  States  : 


of  tbe  %Kw 
of  1691 


Belgium, 
France, 
Great  Britain, 
Switzerland, 


By  Proclamation  of  the 
President,  July  4,  1891. 


Germany,  by  Treaty,  March  8,  1892. 
Italy,  by  Proclamation,  Oct.  31,  1892. 
Denmark,  by  Proclamation,  May  8,  1893. 
Portugal,  by  Proclamation,  July  20,  1895. 
Spain,  by  Proclamation,  July  15,  1895. 
Mexico,  by  Proclamation,  Feb.  27,  1896. 
Chile,  by  Proclamation,  May  25,  1896. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THE  COPYRIGHT 
LAW  OF    189I. 

The  purport  of  the  Chace  -  Breckinridge- 
Adams-Simonds-Platt  Copyright  Act  may  be 
briefly  summarized  as  follows  : 


2l8 


autbors  anO  ipublisbers 


Hnals0f« 

of  tbe  Xaw 

of  1891 


A. — Works  of  Literature. 

1.  Copyright  is  granted  to  autiiors,  whether 
resident  or  non-resident,  for  a  term  of  twenty- 
eight  years.  A  further  term  of  fourteen  years 
(making  forty-two  years  in  all)  is  granted  to 
the  author  if  at  the  expiration  of  the  first  term 
he  is  still  living,  or  to  his  widow  or  children  if 
he  be  dead.  Unless  the  author  survive  the 
first  term  or  leave  widow  or  children,  the 
copyright  is  limited  to  twenty-eight  years. 

2.  It  is  made  a  condition  of  such  copyright 
for  all  authors,  whether  resident  or  non-resi- 
dent, that  all  the  editions  of  the  works  so 
copyrighted  must  be  entirely  manufactured 
within  the  United  States  ;  the  term  including 
the  setting  of  the  type,  as  well  as  the  printing 
and  binding  of  the  books. 

This  provision  was  instituted  in  the  new  act 
at  the  instance  of  the  Typographical  Unions, 
and  was  insisted  upon  by  them  as  essential. 
The  Unions  were  under  the  apprehension  that 
if  international  copyright  should  be  established 
without  such  condition  of  American  manufac- 
ture, a  large  portion  of  the  book  manufacturing 
now  done  in  this  country  would  be  transferred 
across  the  Atlantic,  to  the  injury  of  American 
type-setters  and  printers,  and  of  the  other 
trades  employed  in  the  making  of  books. 

3.  For  a  non-resident  author,  the  further 
condition  is  attached  to  his  American  copy- 
right that  the  country  of  which  he  is  a  citizen 


©n  Securing  Copsrtgbt 


219 


shall  concede  to  American  authors  copyright 
privileges  substantially  equal  to  those  con- 
ceded by  such  foreign  state  to  its  own  authors. 

4.  It  is  also  made  a  condition  (applying  to 
both  resident  and  non-resident  authors)  that 
the  book  securing  American  copyright  shall 
be  published  in  the  United  States  not  later  than 
the  date  of  its  publication  in  any  other  country. 
Under  the  British  act  now  in  force,  the  works 
of  British  authors  must,  in  order  to  preserve 
their  British  copyright,  be  published  in  Great 
Britain  not  later  than  the  date  of  their  publica- 
tion in  any  other  country.  It  is,  therefore, 
necessary  for  English  authors  to  make  ar- 
rangements with  their  English  and  American 
publishers  for  a  simultaneous  date  of  publica- 
tion for  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 

With  the  present  facilities  for  the  manifold- 
ing and  typewriting  of  manuscripts,  for  the 
transmitting  across  the  Atlantic  in  a  week's 
time  advance  proofs  or  advance  sheets,  and 
for  making  final  arrangements  by  cable,  there 
need  be,  for  the  great  majority  of  books  likely 
to  be  reprinted,  no  material  difliculties  in  the 
way  of  securing  this  simultaneous  publication. 

The  provision  was  believed  by  many  to  be 
an  essential  part  of  the  condition  that  all  edi- 
tions of  books  securing  an  American  copyright 
must  be  manufactured  in  this  country.  It  was 
argued  that,  if  a  term  of  twelve  months  or  of 
six  months  were  to  be  allowed  to  a  foreign 


Bnal^efs 

of  tbe  Xaw 

of  t89t 


220 


Hutbors  an^  publisbers 


of  tbe  Xaw 
of  1891 


author  within  which  to  complete  arrange- 
ments for  his  American  editions,  the  import- 
ation of  the  foreign  editions  during  such  term 
must  be  either  prohibited  or  permitted.  In 
the  former  case,  American  readers  might,  for 
an  indefinite  period,  be  prevented  from  secur- 
ing any  copies  at  all  of  new  English  books,  a 
delay  which  would  certainly  bring  about  pop- 
ular indignation.  In  the  second  case,  the 
American  market  could  be  to  some  extent 
supplied  with  English  editions  before  any 
American  editions  were  in  readiness,  and  by 
the  time  the  English  author  was  ready  to  sell 
his  American  copyright  he  would  find  that 
such  copyright  possessed  very  little  market 
value. 

The  status  of  the  foreign  book  during  such 
interregnum  must  in  any  case  be  an  anoma- 
lous one,  and  would  be  likely  to  cause  com- 
plications. 

The  assertion  has  been  made  that  the  pro- 
vision for  simultaneous  publication  was  in- 
serted by  the  publishers  with  the  malicious 
purpose  of  preventing  the  less  known  British 
authors,  who  might  not  be  in  a  position  to 
make  advance  arrangements  for  their  Ameri- 
can editions,  from  securing  under  the  act  any 
American  copyright. 

It  is  evident,  however,  that  the  publishers 
who  were  interested  in  framing  the  bill  were 
not  actuated  by  any  such  Machiavellian  inten- 


©n  Securing  Copsriabt 


221 


tions.  It  had  been  made  clear  that  interna- 
tional copyright  was  expected  to  prove  a 
business  advantage  to  all  the  legitimate  pub- 
lishers engaged  in  reprinting  English  books, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  larger  profits  could 
be  secured  by  controlling  the  market  for  au- 
thorized editions  (even  when  these  were  sold 
at  the  lowest  popular  prices)  than  by  dividing 
the  market  with  a  number  of  unauthorized 
editions.  This  being  the  case,  it  was  of  course 
to  the  interest  of  the  publishers  to  secure  the 
protection  of  American  copyright  for  as  many 
foreign  works  as  possible,  and  the  throwing 
over  of  any  books  to  the  unauthorized  reprint- 
ers  would  entail  loss  upon  publishers  as  well 
as  upon  authors. 

It  was  also,  however,  the  belief  of  the  pub- 
lishers, in  accepting  this  provision  with  the 
other  typographical  conditions,  that  there  need 
be  no  diflFiculty  in  arranging  to  protect  the 
works  of  new  authors  as  well  as  those  of  the 
well-known  writers. 

It  seems  probable,  also,  taking  into  account 
all  the  considerations,  that  the  provision  for 
simultaneous  publication  is  unavoidable  as 
long  as  the  other  restrictions  in  the  act  are 
retained.  When  these  can  be  spared,  the 
International  Copyright  Law  of  the  United 
States  can  properly  be  brought  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Berne  Convention. 

5.  The  regulations  previously  in  force  for 


Hnalssto 

of  tbe  law 

of  tS9t 


222 


Hutbora  an&  publtsbets 


Bnal^eCs 

of  tbe  law 

of ISdt 


making  the  entries  of  copyright  are  continued, 
and  two  copies  of  the  book,  together  with  one 
copy  of  its  printed  title-page,  are  to  be  de- 
livered, on  or  before  the  day  of  publication,  at 
the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  to- 
gether with  a  fee  for  the  entry  of  the  title, 
such  fee  being,  in  the  case  of  an  American 
author,  fifty  cents,  and  in  the  case  of  a  foreign 
author,  one  dollar. 

6.  While  the  importation,  during  the  exist- 
ence of  the  American  copyright,  of  editions  of 
the  books  so  copyrighted,  whether  the  authors 
of  the  same  be  American  or  foreign,  is  pro- 
hibited, the  importation  of  such  books  is  per- 
mitted to  the  extent  of  not  to  exceed  two 
copies  in  any  one  invoice,  said  copies  being 
certified  to  be  "for  use  and  not  for  sale." 
Buyers  of  foreign  books  which  have  secured 
an  American  copyright,  who  may  prefer  for 
their  libraries  the  foreign  editions  of  such 
books,  are,  under  this  provision,  enabled  to 
import,  either  direct  or  through  an  importer, 
not  to  exceed  two  copies  of  such  editions. 
This  provision  apparently  permits  the  import- 
ation (not  exceeding  two  copies  in  any  one 
shipment)  of  unauthorized  as  well  as  of  au- 
thorized foreign  editions  of  books  which  have 
been  copyrighted  in  the  United  States. 

7.  Foreign  periodicals  of  which  there  are  no 
American  editions  "printed  from  type  set  in 
the  United  States,"  can  not  secure  for  their 


®n  Securing  Cop^rfgbt 


223 


contents  an  American  copyright.  The  im- 
portation of  such  periodicals  is  left  unrestrict- 
ed, except  for  such  numbers  as  may  contain 
unauthorized  reprints  of  material  which  has 
already  in  some  other  form  secured  an  Ameri- 
can copyright. 

An  English  author  who  copyrights  and 
publishes  in  the  United  States  a  volume,  some 
chapters  of  which  have  previously  been  print- 
ed in  an  English  magazine,  will  probably  not 
be  in  a  position  to  prevent  the  reprinting  in 
the  United  States  of  an  unauthorized  issue  of 
the  material  contained  in  such  chapters.  For 
this  portion  of  his  volume  no  American  copy- 
right can,  under  the  present  act,  be  secured. 
In  case  all  the  chapters  in  the  volume  have 
already  appeared  in  a  foreign  periodical,  its 
American  copyright  has  been  forfeited.  The 
difficulty  has  occasionally  been  met  by  arrang- 
ing for  the  separate  publication  (if  necessary 
in  pamphlet  form)  of  American  issues  of  cer- 
tain divisions  of  the  serial,  entering  these  for 
copyright  in  Washington  prior  to  the  publica- 
tion in  England  of  the  numbers  of  the  period- 
ical containing  them. 

8.  For  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  pro- 
hibition of  the  importation  of  editions  of  books 
securing  American  copyright,  weekly  lists  of 
the  books  of  which  the  copyright  has  been 
completed  are  furnished  by  the  Librarian  of 
Congress  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 


of  tbe  %nw 
of  tSdt 


224 


ButbotB  an^  publisbers 


Bnalceis 

of  tbe  law 

of  t89t 


and  by  the  Secretary  to  the  various  customs 
oificers  concerned. 

The  non-importation  provision  makes  the 
status  of  books  by  foreign  authors,  which  have 
secured  an  American  copyright,  practically 
identical  with  that  heretofore  in  force  for 
copyrighted  American  works,  the  importation 
of  foreign  editions  of  which  has  of  necessity 
always  been  prohibited.  The  whole  theory 
of  copyright  rests  on  the  exclusive  control  by 
the  author  of  a  specific  territory.  An  author 
to  whom,  under  domestic  or  international 
law,  such  a  control  has  been  conceded,  has 
something  to  sell  for  which  he  can  convey  a 
clear  title,  and  for  which,  therefore,  he  is  in  a 
position  to  secure  a  price  representing  the  full 
market  value  of  his  production.  An  author 
who  can  convey  to  his  publisher,  in  place  of 
an  exclusive  territory,  only  the  right  to  com- 
pete with  an  indefinite  number  of  other  pub- 
lishers of  the  same  work,  has  no  real  "copy- 
right "  to  sell,  and  the  compensation  that  he 
can  secure  will  be  of  necessity  comparatively 
inconsiderable. 

The  so-called  Sherman  amendment,  which 
was  discussed  at  some  length  during  the  con- 
sideration of  the  present  act,  authorized  the 
importation  of  foreign  editions  of  works  by 
foreign  authors  securing  American  copyright. 
It  was  finally  rejected  on  the  several  grounds : 
that  it  was  incompatible  with  the  other  sec- 


®n  Securtng  Copprigbt 


225 


tions  of  the  act,  which  provided  for  the 
American  manufacture  of  all  books  securing 
American  copyright  ;  that  it  was  inconsistent 
with  the  purpose  of  the  act  to  place  on  a 
uniform  status  all  books  copyrighted  here, 
whether  of  American  or  foreign  origin;  and 
that  it  was  inconsistent  with  the  essential 
condition  of  "copyright,"  which  stands  for 
an  exclusive  right  to  the  "  copy  "  for  a  specific 
territory  and  for  a  specific  term.  The  op- 
ponents of  the  amendment  cited,  as  an  instance 
of  territorial  copyright,  the  case  of  the  author- 
ized Tauchnitz  and  Asher  editions  of  the 
books  of  British  authors,  which,  while  copy- 
right on  the  Continent,  would,  if  imported 
into  Great  Britain,  be  infringements,  and  the 
importations  of  which  into  Great  Britain  had, 
therefore,  always  been  prohibited. 

The  Sherman  amendment,  in  its  original 
form,  authorized  the  importation  of  foreign 
editions  of  books  by  American  as  well  as  by 
foreign  authors,  and  did  not  even  stipulate  for 
the  permission  of  the  authors;  and  in  this 
form  it  would  of  necessity  have  rendered  null 
and  void  domestic  as  well  as  international 
copyright.  While  such  a  result  was  doubtless 
not  the  intention  of  the  mover,  Senator  Sher- 
man, of  Ohio,  or  of  Senators  Hale,  Plumb, 
Carlisle,  Daniels,  and  the  others  who  supported 
him,  this  original  amendment  was  actually 
carried  in  the  Senate  by  a  vote  of  25  to  24.    It 


of  tbe  law 
of  t89t 


226 


Hutbors  an&  ipubUsbers 


of  tbe  law 
of  1891 


was  rescinded  three  days  later,  after  its  actual 
purport  had  been  made  clear  by  outside  criti- 
cism. In  its  corrected  shape,  in  which  it 
authorized  the  importation  of  foreign  editions 
of  books  by  foreign  authors  only,  it  was  finally 
defeated  by  the  vote  of  21  to  28.  The  whole 
episode  was  a  noteworthy  instance  of  slovenly 
and  hap-hazard  legislation. 

9.  The  foreign  author  possesses  under  the 
act  the  same  control  over  translations  of  his 
books  as  has  previously  been  possessed  by 
the  American  author,  and  such  translations 
can  hereafter  be  issued  only  under  his  author- 
ization. This  provision  gives,  namely,  to 
German  and  French  authors  the  control  of  the 
issue  in  this  country  of  English  versions  of 
their  books,  and  to  English  authors  a  similar 
control,  not  only  over  a  reprint  in  English, 
but  over  one  made,  for  instance,  in  German. 
There  is,  however,  no  prohibition  of  the  im- 
portation of  an  edition  of  a  book  printed  in  a 
language  other  than  that  in  which  it  has  se- 
cured its  American  copyright. 

B.— Works  of  Art. 

Foreign  artists  and  designers  are  accorded 
the  same  term  or  terms  of  copyright  as  those 
given  to  foreign  authors  (and  to  domestic 
artists). 

The  condition  of  American  manufacture  is 
attached  to  the  copyright  of  reproductions  in 
the  form  of  chromos,  lithographs,  or  photo- 


®n  Securing  Copijriabt 


227 


graphs.  American  manufacture  was,  how- 
ever, not  made  a  condition  of  the  more  artistic 
forms  of  reproductions,  and  foreign  artists  are, 
therefore,  now  in  a  position  to  control  the 
American  copyright  of  engravings  or  photo- 
gravures of  their  productions,  whether  these 
engravings,  etc.,  are  "manufactured"  in 
Europe  or  in  the  United  States.  This  pro- 
vision is  held  by  the  artists  and  art  publishers 
of  France,  who  have  in  the  past  years  suffered 
severely  from  American  "appropriations"  of 
their  productions,  to  be  of  special  importance. 

C. — Music. 

Musical  compositions  by  foreign  composers 
are  accorded  the  same  terms  of  American 
copyright  as  those  given  to  American  com- 
positions, and  for  productions  of  this  class 
American  manufacture  is  not  made  a  condition 
of  the  copyright. 

The  condition  of  reciprocity  applies  to  the 
copyright  of  both  music  and  art. 

General  Suggestions. 

The  details  of  making  the  entry  of  copy- 
right and  of  securing  the  certificates  are,  as  a 
rule,  attended  to  by  the  publishers,  and  even 
when  the  author  retains  the  ownership  of  his 
copyright,  it  is  not  infrequent  for  the  certificate 
to  be  made  out  in  the  name  of  the  publisher. 
The  agreement  for  publication  and  the  an- 
nual or  semi-annual  statements  showing  the 


(general 

Sugaeea 

tione 


228 


Hutbors  ant>  publisbers 


(General 

ticns 


amounts  due  to  the  author  for  royalties  for  his 
copyrights,  give  sufficient  evidence  as  to  the 
actual  ownership  of  this.  There  is  also  no- 
thing to  prevent  the  certificate  from  being 
transferred  to  the  name  of  the  author  in  case 
such  additional  precaution  may  be  deemed 
advisable. 

The  measures  which  are  requisite  for  secur- 
ing copyright  in  Great  Britain  or  in  other  states 
which  are  now  in  copyright  relations  with  the 
United  States,  for  a  work  by  an  American  au- 
thor, can,  as  a  rule,  be  taken  most  conveniently 
by  the  publishers.  The  delivery  of  the  copies 
to  the  copyright  offices  or  official  libraries  re- 
quired under  the  provisions  of  the  European 
acts,  must,  as  a  rule,  be  made  through  some 
publishing  concern  or  publishing  agent  having 
residence  in  the  country  in  which  the  foreign 
copyright  is  secured.  The  American  publish- 
ing Houses  which  have  branches  in  Great 
Britain  are,  of  course,  in  a  position  to  make 
entry  direct,  in  their  own  names  on  behalf  of 
themselves  or  their  authors,  of  the  works  to 
be  copyrighted  in  Great  Britain,  and,  under 
the  provisions  of  the  Berne  Convention,  the 
entry  of  the  book  at  Stationers'  Hall  in  London 
serves  also  to  protect  the  work  so  entered  in 
all  the  states  which  are  parties  to  the  Conven- 
tion. 

Under  the  conditions  of  the  British  Copy- 
right Act,  it  is  necessary  to  deposit  five  copies 


®n  Securing  (Lov^viQbt 


229 


of  each  copyrighted  book  in  the  five  libraries 
designated  in  the  Act.  This  regulation  is,  in 
fact,  enforced  in  the  case  of  all  books  issued  in 
Great  Britain  with  a  British  publishing  im- 
print, whether  or  not  it  may  be  desired  to 
secure  for  such  books  the  protection  of  British 
copyright.  The  provision  becomes  of  neces- 
sity somewhat  burdensome  in  the  cases  of 
costly  works  or  sets  published  by  Houses 
which  do  business  on  both  sides  of  the  At- 
lantic, and  which  place  upon  their  title-pages 
such  an  imprint  as  "New  York  and  London." 
The  protection  of  copyright  is  extended  not 
only  to  material  which  is  in  itself  original,  but 
also  to  any  originality  of  method  or  arrange- 
ment in  the  combination  or  classification  of 
material.  Under  this  principle  copyrights  are 
secured  for  dictionaries,  in  which  of  necessity 
the  majority  of  the  definitions  must  be  sub- 
stantially identical  with  those  given  in  pre- 
vious similar  works  ;  for  tables  of  arithmetic 
or  of  chronology,  and  for  schedules  in  natural 
history  in  which  tables  and  schedules  the  facts 
are  of  necessity  always  the  same.  We  may 
mention  as  an  example  the  decision  of  a  New 
York  Court  to  the  effect  that  a  certain  arrange- 
ment of  anatomical  names,  grouped  in  more 
or  less  arbitrary  figures  designed  to  assist  the 
student  in  memorizing,  was  entitled  to  copy- 
right, although  the  same  lists  of  names  are  of 
course  published  in  every  work  on  anatomy. 


(3eneral 
tionB 


230 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbers 


<3eneral 

Susaeea 

tions 


Under  the  provisions  of  the  American  Act, 
there  is  no  copyright  in  a  title  unless  and  until 
the  work  for  which  such  title  has  been  selected 
has  been  printed  in  its  complete  form,  and  two 
copies  of  the  same  have  been  deposited  in  the 
Library  of  Congress.  It  occasionally  happens 
that  an  author,  while  considering  arrange- 
ments for  the  publication  of  a  work,  being 
anxious  to  secure  the  control  of  some  promis- 
ing title,  has  his  title-page  put  into  type  and 
forwards  this  with  the  copyright  fee  to  the 
Librarian  of  Congress.  It  should  be  under- 
stood, however,  that  until  the  copyright  has 
been  perfected  by  the  deposit  of  two  copies  of 
the  book  itself,  the  author  is  not  in  a  position 
to  control  the  title  selected  by  him,  and  the 
law  would  not  aid  him  to  prevent  such  title 
from  being  appropriated  by  some  other  appli- 
cant who  might  be  able  to  make  an  earlier 
deposit  of  his  completed  volume. 

Any  measures  which  may  become  necessary 
for  the  protection  of  an  author's  copyright 
against  infringements  are  usually  undertaken 
by  the  publisher,  who  acts  as  a  representative 
of  the  author  ;  but  the  expense  of  such  meas- 
ures has  to  be  borne  by  the  author  whose  prop- 
erty is  being  defended.  In  like  manner,  any 
suit  which  may  be  instituted  against  a  pub- 
lication alleged  to  be  an  infringement,  is  usu- 
ally brought  against  the  publisher  of  the  work  ; 
but  whether  or  not  it  may  be  established  that 


©n  Securtna  Cop^rfabt  231 


such  work  does  constitute  or  contain  an  in-  ©enerai 
fringement,  ail  expenses,  penalties,  and  out-  ^tume' 
lays  that  may  for  this  cause  have  been  in- 
curred, are  chargeable  to  the  author  or  editor 
with  whom  the  publisher's  contract  has  been 
made.  Such  contract  contains  the  provision 
that  the  author  or  editor  with  whom  the 
publisher  comes  into  relations,  and  who  claims 
to  be  the  owner  of  the  copyright  of  the  work, 
shall  make  good  to  the  publisher  any  expense 
incurred  in  defending  such  copyright,  and  that 
he  shall  also  guarantee  to  the  publisher  that  the 
work  contains  no  infringement  of  any  other 
copyright  and  no  libels  of  any  kind  ;  if,  there- 
fore, such  infringement  or  libels  be  later  dis- 
covered, the  responsibility  and  the  cost  of  mak- 
ing good  the  same  must  be  borne  by  the  author. 
Contracts  for  publication  usually  contain 
some  provision  concerning  the  division  be- 
tween publisher  and  author  of  such  profits  as 
may  accrue  through  the  sale  in  foreign  coun- 
tries of  editions  of  the  work,  or  of  duplicates 
of  the  electrotype  plates,  or  of  advance  sheets. 
It  is  customary  to  divide  these  receipts  secured 
from  abroad  on  the  same  basis  as  that  which 
has  been  arranged  for  the  division  of  the  net 
proceeds  of  the  American  editions.  An  au- 
thor may  sometimes  prefer  that  the  control  of 
the  arrangements  for  the  foreign  editions  of 
his  work  shall  be  left  in  his  own  hands.  In 
most  cases,  however,  his  American  publisher. 


232 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbera 


General 

SSuggeem 

tions 


having  a  knowledge  of  the  methods  of  pub- 
lishing in  England  and  on  the  Continent,  is  in 
a  position  to  secure  a  better  arrangement  for 
an  English  or  Continental  edition  than  could 
easily  be  arrived  at  by  the  author.  In  case 
the  American  publisher  may  have  a  branch 
House  in  England,  it  is,  as  a  rule,  not  neces- 
sary to  make  any  special  provision  in  the 
publishing  agreement  concerning  the  receipts 
from  sales  abroad.  In  the  absence  of  any 
specific  stipulation,  copies  so  sold  can  be  ac- 
counted for  at  the  same  rate  of  royalty  as  that 
fixed  for  the  sales  in  the  United  States.  While 
the  rate  may  remain  the  same  (ten  per  cent, 
or  more,  as  the  case  may  be),  the  actual 
amount  of  the  royalty  per  copy  may  easily  be 
less  for  sales  in  Great  Britain  than  for  those 
made  in  the  United  States.  It  is  often  ad- 
visable, in  issuing  American  books  in  Great 
Britain,  to  make  the  English  selling  price 
somewhat  lower  than  the  precise  equivalent 
in  sterling  of  the  American  currency  price. 
For  instance,  a  book  published  in  the  United 
States  at  75  cents  would,  as  a  rule,  be  issued 
in  London  at  2s.  6d.  If  the  volume  were  sub- 
ject to  a  ten-per-cent.  royalty,  the  payment 
for  the  English  sales  would  be  not  7J  cents 
but  6  cents  per  volume.  The  book  published 
in  New  York  at  $1.00  would  usually  be  issued 
in  London  at  35.  6d.,  and  the  royalty  would 
be  not  10  cents  per  copy  but  8^  cents  per  copy. 


233 


PART  II. 

Zbc  /Daftlng  of  3Boohs 

XTbe  preparation  ot  tbe  /Manuscript 

XTSpesettfnQ,  Blectrotpping,  pressworft, 
anO  JSin&ina 

By  J.  B.  P. 


XTbe  HbnUnQ  ot  JSool^s. 


235 


SECOND  only  in  importance  to  a  knowledge 
of  the  general  relatiqns  which  should 
exist  between  authors  and  their  publishers,  is 
the  desirability  that  those  who  prepare  manu- 
script for  the  press  should,  before  placing  their 
material  in  the  printer's  hands,  obtain  some 
little  familiarity  with  the  mechanical  operations 
of  bookmaking. 

It  is  not  the  intention  in  this  volume  to 
attempt  a  treatise  on  bookmaking,  but  merely 
to  offer  a  few  suggestions  to  authors,  and 
some  general  description  of  the  various  de- 
tails of  printing  and  binding. 


Ube 

preparaa 

tion  of 

tbe  Aanua 


The  ^Preparation  of  the  Manuscript. 

I.  Write  on  small  sheets  of  paper, — com- 
mercial note  or  letter  size  is  better  than  a 
larger  sheet.  Write  legibly  and  on  one  side 
of  the  sheet  only,  and  avoid,  as  far  as  possible, 
all  interlineations.  Copy  is  frequently  brought 
to  the  printer  in  such  an  illegible  condition  as 
to  make  it  necessary  that  it  should  be  type- 


236 


Hutbors  an&  pubUsbers 


Ube 
preparaa 

t(on  of 
tbe  Aanua 

script 


written  before  being  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  compositors. 

II.  The  sheets  of  manuscript  should  be  of 
uniform  size  and  should  contain,  as  nearly  as 
possible,  the  same  number  of  lines  ;  this  facili- 
tates the  work  of  estimating  the  amount  of 
matter  and  the  cost  of  printing. 

III.  Copy  should  in  all  cases  be  paged  con- 
secutively throughout. 

If  prepared  with  uniformity  as  noted  above 
it  is  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  count 
the  number  of  words  in  the  copy,  and  it  is 
very  desirable  that  the  author  should  have  this 
knowledge  in  talking  with  publisher  or 
printer,  as  upon  the  size  often  depends,  in  no 
small  degree,  the  availability  of  a  given 
manuscript. 

As  a  rule,  there  exists  in  the  mind  of  the 
writer  a  very  hazy  impression  as  to  the 
amount  of  material  contained  in  a  manuscript, 
and  the  author  is  apt  to  refer  to  the  same  as 
' '  about  the  size  of  an  ordinary  book. "  Absurd 
as  this  may  appear  to  any  one  giving  the 
matter  a  moment's  consideration,  this  total 
lack  of  precision  is  the  rule  rather  than  the 
exception  on  the  part  of  those  who  apply  to 
printing-offices  for  estimates. 

If  the  printer  is  advised  as  to  the  number  of 
thousand  words  the  material  contains  and  a 
decision  is  arrived  at  as  to  the  general  form  of 
the  proposed  volume,  it  is  comparatively  an 


Ubc  /Dafiing  ot  JSooI^a 


237 


easy  matter  to  furnish  the  desired  figures,  but 
without  these  data  all  estimates  must  be  mis- 
leading, and  as  a  rule,  reputable  Houses  decline 
to  furnish  approximate  estimates  of  manufact- 
uring costs. 

Given  the  knowledge  of  the  number  of  thou- 
sand words  in  the  manuscript,  the  first  question 
to  decide  in  making  up  an  estimate  is  as  to  the 
form  of  the  proposed  volume.  If  the  material 
is  designed  for  popular  sale,  then  a  selection  of 
type,  page,  paper,  and  binding  must  be  made 
which  will  keep  the  cost  down  to  a  moderate 
figure,  and  thus  admit  of  a  low  publication  price 
for  the  work.  If  on  the  other  hand  the  volume 
is  addressed  to  a  more  limited  class  of  readers, 
a  higher  retail  price  can  probably  be  obtained, 
and  it  may  thus  be  desirable  to  plan  the 
volume  on  an  entirely  different  basis  and 
make  a  larger  and  handsomer  book. 

The  expressions  "quarto,"  "octavo,"  etc., 
which  in  former  times  designated,  with  toler- 
able accuracy,  the  size  of  the  printed  book, 
can  now,  by  no  means  be  depended  upon. 
As  will  readily  be  appreciated,  the  terms  refer 
to  the  number  of  folds  the  sheet  receives  in 
binding.  In  former  years  but  very  little  variety 
was  used  in  the  size  of  the  sheets  of  printing 
paper,  hence  the  number  of  folds,  "four," 
"eight,"  or  "sixteen,"  would  indicate  fairly 
well  the  size  of  the  leaf  of  the  volume  desig- 
nated.    Now,  however,  the  sizes  of  printing 


S)imens 

eions  of 

3BOOli0 


238 


autbors  ant)  publisbers 


Sijes  of 
Utpe 


paper  are  practically  endless, — indeed,  almost 
every  publisher  has  special  sizes  made  for  his 
exclusive  use. 

The  best  authorities  give  the  following 
dimensions  as  most  nearly  covering  the  various 
technical  sizes  of  books  as  now  printed  : 


SIZB  IN  INCHES. 

HEIGHT  BY  MBTRIC 
SYSTEM. 

32mo     . 

3f    X   4f 

•          I2i 

centimetres 

24010 

3i'irx    5i 

•        '5 

(( 

i6mo,  or  sixteenmo 

3l    X    6i 

.       I7i 

(( 

i2mo,  or  twelvemo 

4*    X    7i 

20 

(( 

Crown  octavo 

5i    X    8| 

Regular     " 

6     X    9i 

•       25 

(( 

Royal 

61   X  lof 

Imperial    " 

7i   X  I  If 

Quarto 

81     XI2f 

•       30 

<( 

When  a  decision  has  been  arrived  at  in 
regard  to  the  general  dimensions  of  the  pro- 
posed volume,  the  next  question  is  as  to  the 
size  of  type  and  the  character  of  the  printed 
page.  The  amount  of  material  to  be  printed 
will,  of  course,  in  a  large  measure,  determine 
the  size  of  the  type  to  be  used,  and,  as  a  rule, 
the  greater  the  number  of  words  the  smaller 
the  type  selected. 

The  sizes  of  type  more  generally  used  in 
bookwork  are  four,  namely.  Pica,  Small  Pica, 
Long  Primer,  and  Brevier.  The  appearance 
of  the  page  is  somewhat  varied  by  the  intro- 
duction between  the  lines  of  thin  pieces  of 


Ubc  /iDahIng  ot  Boofts 


239 


metal  called  "leads,"  which  give  to  the  type 
a  more  open  effect.  We  present  on  the  fol- 
lowing pages  specimens  of  these  types.  All 
these  are  set  with  one  lead.  If  set  "solid," 
that  is,  without  the  lines  being  separated  by 
leads,  the  page,  of  course,  will  contain  more 
matter  but  will,  on  the  other  hand,  lose  some- 
what in  legibility. 


Specimen 
of 

Uiepe 


240  autbors  an&  publisbers 


PICA   TYPE    LEADED. 

spedmen         J  have  often  observed  that  the  more 

01 

triepe  proudly  a  mansion  has  been  tenanted 
in  the  day  of  its  prosperity,  the  humbler 
are  its  inhabitants  in  the  day  of  its  de- 
cline, and  that  the  palace  of  a  king 
commonly  ends  in  being  the  nesting- 
place  of  the  beggar. 

The  Alhambra  is  in  a  rapid  state  of 
similar  transition.  Whenever  a  tower 
falls  to  decay,  it  is  seized  upon  by  some 
tatterdemalion  family,  who  become 
joint-tenants  with  the  bats  and  owls  of 
its  gilded  halls;  and  hang  their  rags, 
those  standards  of  poverty,  out  of  its 
windows  and  loop-holes. 

I  have  amused  myself  with  remarking 
some  of  the  motley  characters  that  have 
thus  usurped  the  ancient  abode  of  roy- 
alty, and  who  seem  as  if  placed  there 
to  give  a  farcical  termination  to  the 
drama  of  human  pride.  One  of  these 
even  bears  the  mockery  of  a  regal  title. 
It  is  a  little  old  woman  named  Maria 
Antonia  Sabonea,  but  who  goes  by  the 
appellation  of  la  Reyna  Coquina,  or  the 
Cockle-queen.     She  is  small  enough  to 


Ube  HDafitnd  ot  JSool^s 


241 


Specimen 
of 

TTSPe 


SMALL   PICA  TYPE   LEADED. 

I  have  often  observed  that  the  more 
proudly  a  mansion  has  been  tenanted  in  the 
day  of  its  prosperity,  the  humbler  are  its  in- 
habitants in  the  day  of  its  decline,  and  that 
the  palace  of  a  king  commonly  ends  in  being 
the  nesting-place  of  the  beggar. 

The  Alhambra  is  in  a  rapid  state  of  similar 
transition.  Whenever  a  tower  falls  to  decay, 
it  is  seized  upon  by  some  tatterdemalion 
family,  who  become  joint-tenants  with  the 
bats  and  owls  of  its  gilded  halls ;  and  hang 
their  rags,  those  standards  of  poverty,  out  of 
its  windows  and  loop-holes. 

I  have  amused  myself  with  remarking 
some  of  the  motley  characters  that  have 
thus  usurped  the  ancient  abode  of  royalty, 
and  who  seem  as  if  placed  there  to  give  a 
farcical  termination  to  the  drama  of  human 
pride.  One  of  these  even  bears  the  mockery 
of  a  regal  title.  It  is  a  little  old  woman 
named  Maria  Antonia  Sabonea,  but  who 
goes  by  the  appellation  of  la  Reyna  Coquina, 
or  the  Cockle-queen.  She  is  small  enough 
to  be  a  fairy  ;  and  a  fairy  she  may  be  for 
aught  I  can  find  out,  for  no  one  seems  to 
know  her  origin.  Her  habitation  is  in  a  kind 
of  closet  under  the  outer  staircase  of  the 
palace,  and  she  sits  in  the  cool  stone  corridor, 
plying  her  needle  and  singing  from  morning 


242 


autbors  an&  publlsbers 


Specimen 

of 

Ucpe 


LONG   PRIMER   TYPE   LEADED. 

I  have  often  observed  that  the  more  proudly 
a  mansion  has  been  tenanted  in  the  day  of  its 
prosperity,  the  humbler  are  its  inhabitants  in  the 
day  of  its  decline,  and  that  the  palace  of  a  king 
commonly  ends  in  being  the  nesting-place  of 
the  beggar. 

The  Alhambra  is  in  a  rapid  state  of  similar 
transition.  Whenever  a  tower  falls  to  decay,  it 
is  seized  upon  by  some  tatterdemalion  family, 
who  become  joint-tenants  with  the  bats  and  owls 
of  its  gilded  halls  ;  and  hang  their  rags,  those 
standards  of  poverty,  out  of  its  windows  and 
loop-holes. 

I  have  amused  myself  with  remarking  some 
of  the  motley  characters  that  have  thus  usurped 
the  ancient  abode  of  royalty,  and  who  seem  as 
if  placed  there  to  give  a  farcical  termination  to 
the  drama  of  human  pride.  One  of  these  even 
bears  the  mockery  of  a  regal  title.  It  is  a  little 
old  woman  named  Maria  Antonia  Sabonea,  but 
who  goes  by  the  appellation  of  la  Reyna  Coquina, 
or  the  Cockle-queen.  She  is  small  enough  to  be 
a  fairy  ;  and  a  fairy  she  may  be  for  aught  I  can 
find  out,  for  no  one  seems  to  know  her  origin. 
Her  habitation  is  in  a  kind  of  closet  under  the 
outer  staircase  of  the  palace,  and  she  sits  in  the 
cool  stone  corridor,  plying  her  needle  and  sing- 
ing from  morning  till  night,  with  a  ready  joke 
for  every  one  that  passes  ;  for  though  one  of 
the  poorest,  she  is  one  of  the  merriest  little 
women  breathing.     Her  great  merit  is  a  gift  for 


XTbe  rt>aftfng  ot  Boofts 


243 


BREVIER  TYPE  LEADED. 
I  have  often  observed  that  the  more  proudly  a  mansion 
has  been  tenanted  in  the  day  of  its  prosperity,  the  humbler 
are  its  inhabitants  in  the  day  of  its  decline,  and  that  the 
palace  of  a  king  commonly  ends  in  being  the  nesting-place 
of  the  beggar. 

The  Alhambra  is  in  a  rapid  state  of  similar  transition. 
Whenever  a  tower  falls  to  decay,  it  is  seized  upon  by  some 
tatterdemalion  family,  who  become  joint-tenants  with  the 
bats  and  owls  of  its  gilded  halls  ;  and  hang  their  rags,  those 
standards  of  poverty,  out  of  its  windows  and  loop-holes. 

I  have  amused  myself  with  remarking  some  of  the  motley 
characters  that  have  thus  usurped  the  ancient  abode  of 
royalty,  and  who  seem  as  if  placed  there  to  give  a  farcical 
termination  to  the  drama  of  human  pride.  One  of  these 
even  bears  the  mockery  of  a  regal  title.  It  is  a  little  old 
woman  named  Maria  Antonia  Sabonea,  but  who  goes  by 
the  appellation  of  la  Reyna  Coquina,  or  the  Cockle-queen, 
She  is  small  enough  to  be  a  fairy  ;  and  a  fairy  she  may  be 
for  aught  I  can  find  out,  for  no  one  seems  to  know  her 
origin.  Her  habitation  is  in  a  kind  of  closet  under  the 
outer  staircase  of  the  palace,  and  she  sits  in  the  cool  stone 
corridor,  plying  her  needle  and  singing  from  morning 
till  night,  with  a  ready  joke  for  every  one  that  passes  ;  for 
though  one  of  the  poorest,  she  is  one  of  the  merriest  little 
women  breathing.  Her  great  merit  is  a  gift  for  story- 
telling, having,  I  verily  believe,  as  many  stories  at  her 
command  as  the  inexhaustible  Scheherezade  of  the  Thou- 
sand and  One  Nights.  Some  of  these  I  have  heard  her 
relate  in  the  evening  tertulias  of  Dame  Antonia,  at  which 
she  is  occasionally  a  humble  attendant. 

That  there  must  be  some  fairy  gift  about  this  mysterious 
little  old  woman,  would  appear  from  her  extraordinary 
luck,  since,  notwithstanding  her  being  very  little,  very 
ugly,  and  very  poor,  she  has  had,  according  to  her  account, 
five  husbands  and  a  half,  reckoning  as  a  half  one  a  young 
dragoon  who  died  during  courtship.     A  rival  personage  to 


Specimen 
of 


244 


Hutbors  an&  pubUsbers 


B  properly 

propora 
tioned  paoe 


Now  that  the  size  and  face  of  type  to  be 
used  is  decided  upon,  and,  approximately,  the 
number  of  words  the  page  should  contain,  the 
next  point  to  be  considered  is  as  to  the  propor- 
tion of  the  page.  Until  comparatively  recent 
years  it  was  the  custom  to  make  the  printed 
page  much  more  nearly  square  than  is  now 
thought  good  form.  At  present  well  planned 
pages  are  longer  and  narrower.  The  rule  es- 
tablished by  good  authorities  in  order  that  a 
page  should  be  well  proportioned  and  agree- 
able to  the  eye  is  to  make  the  width  of  the 
page  one  half  the  diagonal  length  from  corner 
to  corner. 

The  next  details  to  be  considered  are  the 
questions  of  headlines,  folios,  side-notes,  etc. 
In  many  books,  notably  novels,  the  use  of 
headlines  or  captions  on  the  right  hand  or  odd 
page  is  designed  to  suggest  the  contents  of 
the  page,  and  is  considered  of  no  little  advan- 
tage to  the  appearance  of  the  volume. 

If  the  headlines  are  long,  it  is  sometimes 
good  form  to  place  the  folios  or  page  numbers 
at  the  bottom  of  the  page  instead  of  at  the 
top.  When  the  character  of  the  material  calls 
for  side — or  running-notes,  it  is  a  question 
as  to  whether  these  should  be  placed  on  the 
outer  margin  of  the  page  or  "  boxed,"  that  is, 
inserted  inside  of  the  page  in  different  and 
distinct  type.  Many  other  details  might  be 
mentioned  which  have  to  be  considered  and 


Ube  /IDafting  ot  3Sool?s 


245 


decided  upon  before  the  manuscript  can  prop- 
erly be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  compositor. 
It  is  quite  evident  that  these  decisions  depend 
very  largely  on  the  general  character  of  the 
special  work  in  hand,  but  they  none  the  less 
call  for  the  exercise  of  some  judgment  if  a 
well  proportioned  and  attractive-looking  vol- 
ume is  desired.  The  distinction  between  such 
a  volume  and  one  carelessly  printed,  without 
a  proper  appreciation  of  good  work,  is  often 
somewhat  intangible,  but  it  is,  nevertheless, 
very  real  even  to  those  who  possess  no  tech- 
nical knowledge  of  bookmaking,  but  who 
still  appreciate  a  well  proportioned  and  well 
printed  volume. 

Measuring  Type. — The  standard  of  measure 
in  typesetting  in  the  United  States  is  the 
"em,"  or  the  square  of  the  letter  "  m  "  used. 
In  other  words,  the  compositor  is  paid  for 
the  number  of  "ems  "  he  sets,  and,  of  course, 
the  smaller  the  type  the  greater  the  number 
of  ems  in  a  given  page.  This  should  be  borne 
in  mind,  for  it  not  infrequently  occurs  that 
after  a  work  has  been  estimated  to  make  a 
certain  number  of  pages  in  one  type,  the  au- 
thor decides  to  reduce  the  size  of  this  type,  or 
perhaps  set  a  portion  of  his  matter  in  smaller 
type,  and  he  is  surprised  that  the  reduction  in 
the  number  of  pages  does  not  make  the  cost 
of  his  volume  correspondingly  less.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  there  will  be  the  same  number 


Aeasurfng 
Utpe 


246 


Hutbors  an&  ipublisbers 


Compoeb 
tton 


of  ems  in  the  complete  manuscript  whether 
the  type  be  large  or  small,  and  the  compositor 
justly  receives  the  same  compensation  for  set- 
ting say  one  hundred  pages  of  long  primer  as 
he  does  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  pages  of 
pica.  When  the  type  of  a  book  is  mixed,  each 
size  is  measured  for  itself. 

Composition. — When  the  manuscript  is  ready 
for  the  compositor  it  is  given  out  by  the  fore- 
man of  the  composing-room  in  small  divisions 
called  "takes,"  and  these  are  handed  out  to 
the  compositors  engaged  upon  the  work  in 
rotation.  It  is  customary  to  post  upon  the 
bulletin  board  in  the  composing-room  general 
instructions  covering  any  special  directions  to 
the  compositors  engaged  upon  each  work. 
Authors  should  bear  in  mind  that  often  from 
ten  to  twenty  compositors  are  assigned  to  the 
setting  of  a  book,  and  consequently  each  one 
of  these  hands  sets  but  a  very  small  portion  of 
the  matter.  There  is,  therefore,  a  greater  risk 
of  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  typesetting  than 
would  be  the  case  if  the  work  could  be  done  by 
one  compositor.  It  is,  of  course,  the  duty  of 
the  proof-reader  to  correct  these  irregularities 
as  far  as  possible  in  his  first  reading  and  be- 
fore the  proof  is  seen  by  the  author. 

The  instructions  referred  to  specify  the  size 
of  the  page,  whether  the  page  is  to  be  leaded 
or  solid,  style  of  initials,  headpieces,  running 
captions,  the  type  required  for  quoted  matter 


Ube  /Daltind  ot  JBoohs 


247 


and  notes,  and  indeed  any  other  directions 
which  may  be  specially  required  for  the  par- 
ticular work  in  hand.  As  each  compositor 
sets  the  copy  assigned  to  him,  he  places  the 
matter  in  a  receptacle  called  a  "galley,"  having 
first  headed  it  with  his  "slug  number"  to 
identify  it,  and  enable  him  to  receive  the 
proper  credit  for  his  work. 

Office  Proof. — The  type  is  now  taken  to 
the  hand-press  and  a  proof  "pulled"  from  it, 
which  proof,  together  with  the  manuscript 
copy,  is  sent  to  the  reader.  This  is  called 
"oflFice  proof,"  and  it  is  corrected  by  the 
proof-reader,  assisted  by  a  copyholder  read- 
ing aloud  the  manuscript,  word  by  word. 
This  proof  is  now  returned  to  the  compos- 
itor, who  is  required  to  make,  at  his  own 
expense,  all  corrections  needed  to  make  the 
proof  conform  to  the  copy.  This  office  proof 
is  often,  to  use  a  printer's  term,  very  "foul," 
because  of  the  carelessness  of  the  compositor, 
who,  however,  suffers  from  his  lack  of  accu- 
racy, as  he  has  to  overcome  all  this  "  foulness," 
and  prepare  a  clean  proof  for  the  author. 

Author's  Proof. — This  second  proof,  termed 
"author's,"  is  given  to  an  assistant  who  com- 
pares it  with  the  office  proof  to  make  sure 
that  all  of  the  compositor's  errors  have  been 
properly  rectified.  The  proof  is  then  stamped 
with  the  date,  and,  with  the  manuscript  copy, 
is  despatched  to  the  author. 


Office 
proof 


248 


Hutbors  anO  publisbers 


Butbor'0 
t>toof 


The  author  now  for  the  first  time  sees  his 
ideas  in  cold  type,  and  even  those  who  have 
prepared  much  "copy"  for  the  press,  are  not 
infrequently  surprised  at  its  changed  appear- 
ance when  the  proof  comes  from  the  printer. 
And  here  begins  one  of  the  most  trying  phases 
in  the  relations  between  author  and  printer, 
caused  by  the  former  finding  it  imperative  to 
revise  his  matter  in  proof  and  to  make  it  con- 
form to  his  changed  ideas.  These  "extra 
corrections  "  are  the  bugbear  of  all  well  regu- 
lated printing-offices,  for  even  an  author  who 
is  reasonable  about  other  matters,  finds  it  very 
difficult  to  believe  that  an  injustice  has  not 
been  committed  in  debiting  him  with  a  charge 
for  the  time  required  to  make  these  changes. 
Nearly  all  such  expense  can  be  avoided  if  the 
manuscript  is  properly  prepared  before  being 
placed  in  the  printer's  hands,  but  this  is  a  pre- 
caution which  very  few  authors  are  willing  to 
take.  The  amount  of  such  work  called  for  by 
different  authors  varies  greatly.  Many  writers 
scarcely  alter  a  word  even  in  a  large  volume, 
while  others  appear  to  find  it  difficult  to  avoid 
reconstructing  almost  every  sentence  in  the 
proof.  One  author  whom  we  recall  possessed 
a  realizing  sense  of  his  peculiarities  in  this  re- 
spect, and  was  in  the  habit  of  having  his  ma- 
terial set  twice — the  first  time  in  large  type, 
which  was  carefully  revised  in  slip  form,  after 
which  the  matter  was  reset  in  the  type  in 


ZTbe  /iDaKino  ot  BooRs 


249 


which  it  was  finally  to  appear.  In  the  second 
proof  scarcely  a  word  was  changed.  This 
was  before  the  time  of  typewriters,  and  such 
a  course  can  scarcely  be  recommended  to  any 
but  those  to  whom  expense  is  of  little  con- 
sequence, but  it  at  least  had  the  advantage  of 
eliminating  the  annoying,  and  frequently  dis- 
puted, charge  for  extra  corrections. 

The  main  difficulty  in  connection  with  these 
changes  in  the  proof  is  due  to  an  ignorance  on 
the  part  of  the  author  as  to  the  time  required 
to  effect  the  alterations  demanded.  For  in- 
stance, the  introduction  of  a  word  or  two  in 
a  sentence  not  only  makes  it  necessary  to 
reset  one  line,  but  usually  calls  for  the  "over- 
running "  or  readjustment  of  each  line  to  the 
end  of  the  sentence.  A  similar  condition  of 
things  exists  when  a  word  or  two  is  elimin- 
ated in  the  proof  unless  other  words  of  the 
same  length  are  substituted. 

Sometimes  again  the  author  decides,  on 
examining  his  proof,  that  certain  extract 
matter  will  look  better  if  set  in  smaller  type 
than  that  used  in  the  body  of  the  text.  Of 
course,  this  means  not  only  a  double  setting 
of  the  material  in  question,  but  in  addition 
(if  the  proof  be  in  pages)  the  "overrunning" 
of  all  the  pages  made  up.  If  this  almost 
self-evident  proposition  is  borne  in  mind  by 
the  author,  much  vexatious  expense  may  be 
avoided. 


£(tra  Cor* 
rectione 


250 


Hutbors  an^  publisbers 


Coetof 

£ltra  Coca 

tections 


In  ordinary  work,  it  is  customary  to  submit 
to  the  autlior  two  proofs — the  first  or  "galley 
proof"  being  sent  with  the  manuscript  copy 
for  the  author's  careful  reading.  This  is 
stamped  "author's,"  and  it  is  not  taken  until 
an  "office  proof"  has  been  read  by  the  regu- 
lar proof-reader,  word  by  word,  with  the 
manuscript.  It  is  then  corrected  and  a  revise 
or  clean  proof  "  pulled  "  for  the  author.  Upon 
the  return  of  the  latter  proof,  the  corrections 
of  printer's  errors  are  first  attended  to,  as  the 
responsibility  for  these  clearly  rests  with  the 
printer.  Then  the  "author's  changes"  are 
made,  and  the  time  required  for  this  last  part 
of  the  work  is  charged  to  the  author. 

The  proof  now  goes  to  the  second  reader 
for  revision,  after  which  the  type  is  locked  up 
in  chases  or  iron  frames  preparatory  to  cast- 
ing. Before  going  into  the  foundry,  however, 
another  proof  called  a  "planer"  is  taken,  and 
this  is  carefully  gone  over  by  a  third  reader. 
After  casting,  still  another  proof  is  struck  off 
which  is  marked  "plate,"  and  this  is  sent  to 
the  author  for  his  final  inspection  and  for  veri- 
fication as  to  the  carrying  out  of  his  several 
instructions.  It  is  possible  to  make  correc- 
tions even  at  this  time,  but  of  course  the  ex- 
pense of  so  doing  is  much  greater  than  if 
called  for  in  the  earlier  proofs.  Unfortunately, 
even  at  this  stage,  new  ideas  not  infrequently 
suggest  themselves  to  authors,  and  the  latter 


Ube  /©ahfng  ot  Boofts  251 


are  surprised  to  find  the  considerable  cost  of      coat  of 
incorporating  these  in  the  plates.  (SmcL 

Many  authors  feel  that  the  cost  of  these  tiong 
alterations  is  something  for  which  they  should 
not  be  held  responsible,  contending  that  all 
such  changes  are  designed  to  make  a  more 
perfect  book,  in  which  result  the  author  and 
the  publisher  are  equally  interested.  There  is, 
upon  the  surface,  some  justice  in  this  view, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  accepting 
the  author's  manuscript  the  publisher  does  so 
with  the  understanding  that  the  material  is  in 
the  condition  in  which  the  author  desires  it  to 
be  printed.  It  is  manifestly  proper  therefore 
that  any  exceptional  expense  incurred  in  over- 
coming errors  and  inconsistencies  which  the 
author  has  permitted  to  appear  in  his  copy 
should  be  borne  by  him  and  not  by  the  pub- 
lisher. Any  other  course  than  this  means, 
with  a  large  proportion  of  writers,  the  revision 
of  the  material  when  the  matter  is  in  type, 
instead  of  the  proper  preparation  of  the  manu- 
script. If  the  cost  of  such  work  were  borne 
by  the  publisher,  the  expense  attaching  to 
much  material  would  often  make  its  publi- 
cation a  very  unsatisfactory  commercial  ven- 
ture. 

In  order  that  authors  may  have  clearly  be- 
fore them  the  details  of  these  extra  corrections, 
we  subjoin,  herewith,  the  following,  bearing 
upon  the  matter. 


252 


Btttbors  an&  ipublfsbers 


Correcting 
proof 


We  also  present  a  page  of  text  showing  the 
method  of  marking  the  proof  and  also  a  page 
with  the  corrections  properly  made.  In  ad- 
dition are  given  the  signs  and  abbreviations 
used  in  correcting  proof. 

CORRECTING  PROOF. 

All  changes  in  proof,  except  such  as  are  necessary  to  make 
it  conform  to  the  "  copy  "  or  original  manuscript,  are  "  ex- 
tra corrections." 

The  cost  of  these  "  extra  corrections,"  a  matter  entirely 
apart  and  distinct  from  any  expense  the  publisher  has  agreed 
to  undertake  in  bringing  out  a  book  (or  any  estimate  given 
to  the  author,  when  the  book  is  published  on  the  author's 
account),  is  charged  to  the  author  and  payable  by  him  as 
soon  as  the  volume  is  ready  for  publication. 

When  the  matter  is  set  up,  the  proof  is  read  in  the  office 
by  a  proof-reader  and  compared  closely  with  the  "copy," 
the  latter  being  read  aloud  to  him  for  this  comparison.  All 
differences  are  noted,  and  the  proof  is  then  returned  to  the 
compositor,  who  is  obliged  to  make  the  corrections  at  his 
own  expense.  Then  a  proof  is  sent  to  the  author.  Upon 
each  batch  of  proof  returned  by  the  author,  are  noted  such 
changes  as  he  has  made  differing  from  original  copy,  and  the 
time  taken  to  make  the  changes,  recorded.  From  these 
daily  records  is  made  up  the  account  for  "  extra  corrections  " 
that  is  rendered  to  the  author  on  the  completion  of  the  work. 

Authors  are  often  surprised  at  the  amount  of  this  charge 
and  incredulous  of  its  correctness,  forgetting  that  they,  of 
course,  take  no  special  note  of  the  little  changes  made  from 
time  to  time,  while  these  changes  are  recorded  in  the  office 
as  they  occur,  and  though  petty,  individually,  in  the  aggre- 
gate reach  sometimes  a  very  considerable  amount. 

It  should  be  noted  that  if  it  were  possible  to  make  at  one 
time  all  the  changes  marked,  the  expense  of  such  would  be 
materially  reduced.     This  is  not  possible,  however,  as  cor- 


Correctfna  proot 


253 


rections  have  to  be  made  from  time  to  time,  and  this  requires 
the  additional  handling  of  type,  which  necessarily  increases 
the  expense. 

It  is  frequently  the  case  that  changes  in  proof  have  to  be 
made  in  order  to  make  it  conform  to  "  office  rule,"  i.  e.,  to 
the  accepted  rules  of  orthography,  punctuation,  etc.  The 
compositor  sets  the  matter  just  as  it  is  written.  If  the 
author  has  written  "  King"  on  page  i  and  "  king  "  on  page 
30 ;  if  he  has  in  one  instance  written  "fin  de  siecle"  in 
Roman,  and  in  another  put  it  or  an  analogous  expression  in 
italics,  fin  de  siecle, — the  manuscript  will  be  followed  with 
these  inconsistencies,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the  office  proof- 
reader to  make  the  proof  consistent,  and  to  charge  the  cost 
of  such  corrections  to  the  author  as  "  extra  corrections." 

"  Extra  corrections"  may  be  avoided  entirely  or  reduced 
to  a  minimum,  by  greater  care  ro  the  preparation  and 

REVISION    OF    MANUSCRIPTS    BEFORE    THEY    ARE    PLACED    IN    THE 

printer's  hands.  If  authors  would  subject  their  manuscripts 
to  the  same  scrutiny  they  give  to  proofs,  and  be  reasonably 
sure  that  what  they  have  written  has  been  put  in  just  the  form 
they  wish,  as  to  expression,  paragraphing,  use  of  capitals, 
punctuation,  spelling,  etc.,  they  would  save  themselves  the 
annoyance  and  expense  of  these  "  extra  corrections." 

The  cost  of  changes  is  least  when  made  in  first  or  "gal- 
ley "  proof,  and  most  when  in  final  or  "  plate  "  proof  One 
of  the  changes  an  author  is  apt  to  make  without  thinking 
how  much  labor  it  entails,  is  the  insertion  of  a  word  or 
phrase  after  the  type  is  set ;  this  sometimes  involves  the  re- 
adjustment of  scores  of  lines  or  several  pages. 

Authors  should  bear  in  mind  that  where  typographical 
errors  are  overlooked  by  them  in  the  galley  and  page  proof, 
and  are  only  discovered  in  the  plate  proof,  the  printer  cannot 
be  held  responsible  for  the  cost  of  rectification  of  such  errors 
in  the  plates. 


Correcting 
proof 


lProot*rea5er's  Corrections 


GOTTFRIED  WOLFGANoj   CJUyd/UU 

M^,e/lfL4        Wolfgang  arrived  at  Paris  at  the  breaking  out  of 

tfie^volution.      The  popular  delirium  at  first  caught 

his  enthusiastic  mind,  and  he  was  captivated  by  the 

political  and  philosophical  theories^f  the  Jay  i  but     i/ 

the  scenes  of  blood  which  followed,  shocked  his  sensitive 

;^  nature,  disgusted{Tociel^itly/hiiri)and  the  world,  and 

^  '  made  him  more  than  ever  a  recluse.     He  shut  himself 

tt^CCcuCCC/  up  in  a  solitary  apartment  in  the  Pays  Latin,  the  quarter 

3  of  students.     There/\in  a  gloomy  street  not  far  from 

0^     the  from  the  monastic  walls  of  the/brbonne,  he  pursued     CofU 
^       his  favorite  speculations.  X 

^\  SomQin'^s  he   spent  hours  together  in  the  great 

libraries  of  Paris,  those  catacombs  of  departed  author 
rummaging  among  their  hordes  of  dusty  and  obg'ole^g'^ 
works  in  quest  of  food  for  his  unhealthy  appetite.  .  ,1 
He  was,  in  a  manner,  a  literary  ghoul,  feeding  in 
/    the  chameUiouse  of   decayed  literature,   a  Wolfgang,      /;  ^ 
/  though  j|solitary  and  recluse,  was  of  an  ardent  Yem-  O.O. 
perament,  but  for  a  time  it  operated  merely  upon  his 
•ff-     imagination.  He  was  tooshy  and  ignorant  of  the  world/(o  J)/jyyi^  /nn 
make  any  advances  to  the  fair,  but  he  was  a  passionate(ad- 
mirer  of  female  beauty,  and  in  his  lonely  chamber 
would  often  lose  himself  in  reveries  on  forms  and  faces 
which  he  had  sedn,  and  his  fancy  would  deck  out 
images  of  loveliness  far  surpassing  the  reality. 

While  his  mind  was  in  this  excited  and  sublimated 

state,  a  dream  produced  an  extraordinary  effect  upon 

^       him.     It  was  of  a  female  face  of  transcendent  beauty. 

"^       So  strong  was  the  impression  made,  that  he  dreamt  of 

^JjofT        it  again  and  again.     It  haunted  his  thoughts  by  day, 

his  slumbers  by  night ;  in  fine,  he  became  passionately 

/l/ffTTV.       enamoured  of  this  shadow  of  a  dream.     This  lasted  so 

.         long  that  it  became  one  of  those  fixed  ideas^f  mplan.     _  OX^A^"  ■^ 
CCC.  ]^Aoly  men,  and  are  at  times  mistaken  for  maltircssr  O^ 

Such  wiw  Gottfried  Wolfgang,  and  such  his  situation  at 
O    /the  time  I  mentioned.     He  was  returning  home  late(' 


-z. 


*/ 


254 


l^dJkM 


I 


Corrected)  proot 


GOTTFRIED  WOLFGANG. 

Wolfgang  arrived  at  Paris  at  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Revolution.  The  popular  delirium  at  first  caught 
his  enthusiastic  mind,  and  he  was  captivated  by  the 
political  and  philosophical  theories  of  the  day  :  but  the 
scenes  of  blood  which  followed,  shocked  his  sensitive 
nature,  disgusted  him  with  society  and  the  world,  and 
made  him  more  than  ever  a  recluse.  He  shut  himself 
up  in  a  solitary  apartment  in  the  Pays  Latin,  the  quarter 
of  students.  There,  in  a  gloomy  street  not  far  from 
the  monastic  walls  of  the  Sorbonne,  he  pursued  his 
favorite  speculations.  Sometimes  he  spent  hours 
together  in  the  great  libraries  of  Paris,  those  cata- 
combs of  departed  authors,  rummaging  among  their 
hordes  of  dusty  and  obsolete  works  in  quest  of  food 
for  his  unhealthy  appetite.  He  was,  in  a  manner,  a 
literary  ghoul,  feeding  in  the  charnel-house  of  de- 
cayed literature. 

Wolfgang,  though  solitary  and  recluse,  was  of  an 
ardent  temperament,  but  for  a  time  it  operated  merely 
upon  his  imagination.  He  was  too  shy  and  ignorant  of 
the  world  to  make  any  advances  to  the  fair,  but  he  was  a 
passionate  admirer  of  female  beauty,  and  in  his  lonely 
chamber  would  often  lose  himself  in  reveries  on  forms 
and  faces  which  he  had  seen,  and  his  fancy  would  deck 
out  images  of  loveliness  far  surpassing  the  reality. 

While  his  mind  was  in  this  excited  and  sublimated 
state,  a  dream  produced  an  extraordinary  effect  upon 
him.  It  was  of  a  female  face  of  transcendent  beauty. 
So  strong  was  the  impression  made,  that  he  dreamt  of 
it  again  and  again.  It  haunted  his  thoughts  by  day, 
his  slumbers  by  night ;  in  fine,  he  became  passionately 
enamoured  of  this  shadow  of  a  dream.  This  lasted  so 
long  that  it  became  one  of  those  fixed  ideas  which 
haunt  the  minds  of  melancholy  men,  and  are  at  times 
mistaken  for  madness. 

Such  was  Gottfried  Wolfgang,  and  such  his  situation  at 
the  time  I  mentioned.  He  was  returning  home  late  one 
255 


Corrections  ot  tbe  ipress 


LIST   OF   SIGNS    AND    ABBREVIATIONS 
USED    IN   CORRECTING    PROOF. 


ojor  8 

D 


/\ 


X 


H 


c 

/c. 


^ 


9 


out-*-c 


(dele J    Take  away. 

Turn  an  inverted  letter. 

Indent. 

Directs  that  space  be  taken  out. 

Indicates  more  space  between  words  or  letters. 

Indicates  less  space  between  words  or  letters. 

Indicates  broken  or  imperfect  type. 

Indicates  a  space  or  "quadrat"  which  improperly 
appears. 

Dots  placed  under  words  or  letters  erased  indicate  that 
they  are  to  be  restored.  Siet  is  placed  in  the 
margin. 

Make  a  new  paragraph. 

Indicates  that  a  word  or  line  is  to  be  moved  towards  the 
face  of  the  bracket,  whichever  way  turned. 

(lower  case)  Directs  that  a  letter  or  word  printed  in 
capitals  be  made  small. 

Transpose  letters  or  words. 

(wrong  font)  Directs  attention  to  a  letter  of  a  wrong 
size  or  style. 

Query  as  to  spelling  or  use  of  language. 

One  line  under  letters  or  words  indicates  that  they 
should  be  changed  from  Roman  to  Italic  or  from 
Italic  to  Roman  as  the  case  may  be  ; 

two  lines  indicate  small  capitals  ; 

and  three  lines,  capitals. 

Words  are  wanting — see  copy. 


256 


Ube  {JbaUnQ  ot  Boofis 


257 


Electrotyping. — In  America  it  is  the  rule  to 
make  plates  of  nearly  all  books  published. 
This  plan  is  followed  because  of  the  difficulty 
of  estimating,  with  any  degree  of  accuracy, 
the  probable  demand  for  the  volume  and  of 
gauging  the  size  of  the  first  edition  by  this  de- 
mand. In  England,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is 
much  less  usual  to  make  plates.  Instead,  the 
type  is  frequently  kept  standing  for  months, 
perhaps  years,  and  edition  after  edition  is 
struck  off  as  these  may  be  called  for. 

The  advantage  of  the  latter  system  consists 
in  the  lessening  of  the  expense  of  any  revision 
that  may  be  desired  in  later  editions.  But  in 
this  country,  the  cost  of  type  is  so  much  greater, 
that  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  it  is  more  econ- 
omical to  make  plates  at  first.  It  may  further 
be  said  that,  owing  to  the  great  improvement 
in  machinery  in  the  United  States,  the  cost  of 
this  electrotyping  is  a  much  less  serious  factor 
in  bookmaking  than  is  the  case  in  England. 

It  is  also  true  that  these  electrotype  plates, 
being  much  less  bulky  than  the  type,  can  be 
handled  and  stored  away  more  readily  than  is 
the  case  with  standing  type.  Such  plates  are 
carefully  placed  in  consecutive  order  in  boxes 
containing  from  forty-eight  to  ninety-six 
plates  each  and  are  thus  stored  in  vaults  until 
required  for  the  press. 

Presswork. — It  would  be  useless  in  a  sketch 
like  this  to  attempt  a  description  of  the  evolu- 


Slectroa 
t^pind 


258 


autbors  an&  publisbers 


pte»«wort  tion  of  the  modern  press  and  the  varieties  of 
printing  machines  now  in  use  for  bookwork. 
From  the  days  of  Plantin,  in  Antwerp,  with 
his  crude  hand-press,  the  output  of  which  was 
but  one  or  two  hundred  impressions  an  hour, 
to  the  modern  newspaper  machine  with  a 
capacity  of  twenty  thousand  copies  per  hour, 
not  only  printed,  but  folded  and  ready  for 
delivery,  is  a  long  step,  and  the  comparison 
will  convey  some  idea  of  the  vast  amount  of 
study  which  has  been  given  by  inventors  to 
the  perfection  of  the  modern  press. 

In  comparing  the  presswork  of  the  sixteenth 
century  with  that  of  the  close  of  the  nineteenth, 
it  would  be  a  satisfaction  if  we  could  point  to 
the  same  progress  in  the  quality  of  work  that 
we  find  in  the  speed  with  which  this  work  is 
executed.  Unfortunately,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  this  is  not  uniformly  the  case.  Not  a 
little  satisfactory  book-printing  is  produced  by 
the  modern  press,  but  it  is,  nevertheless,  the 
case  that  the  demands  made  upon  the  printer 
now  for  books  which  can  be  sold  at  a  popular 
price  has  a  tendency  to  bring  forth  a  quality 
of  presswork  for  which  it  is  not  always  pos- 
sible to  express  admiration. 

For  this  state  of  things,  moreover,  it  is  not 
just  to  charge  the  printer  alone,  for,  from  the 
cause  already  mentioned,  he  is  generally  com- 
pelled to  work  with  poor  paper  made  from 
wood  pulp,  and  with  ink  which  is  sadly  lack- 


I 


Ube  nDaKing  ot  Booths 


259 


ing  in  those  qualities  required  for  thoroughly 
effective  and  permanent  work. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  relief  that  one  turns 
from  some  of  the  gray  and  muddy  pages  of 
the  present  day,  printed  upon  hard  and  stiff 
"  pulp  paper,"  to  the  delightful  old  black-letter 
volumes  of  two  or  three  centuries  since,  with 
their  clear-cut,  sharp  type,  struck  with  deep 
black  ink  on  hand-made  paper  of  such  stock 
as  admitted  not  only  of  a  perfect  impression, 
but,  in  addition,  presented  a  surface  and  a  flexi- 
bility delightful  to  the  eye  and  to  the  touch. 

One  is  sometimes  forced  to  the  wish  that 
inventive  genius  had  not  gone  quite  so  far, 
but  that  it  had  contented  itself  with  the  slow- 
running  hand  or  Franklin  press,  that  the 
paper-makers  had  failed  to  discover  that  wood 
might  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  rags,  and 
lastly,  but  by  no  means  least,  that  the  ink 
manufacturers  had  not  been  compelled  to 
cheapen  their  product  and  to  manufacture  an 
ink  lacking  in  so  many  of  the  brilliant  and 
lasting  qualities  of  the  early  makers. 

The  use  of  wood  pulp  in  the  manufacture 
of  printing  paper  presents  a  serious  outlook 
for  the  lasting  qualities  of  books  made  from 
such  paper.  The  utilization  of  this  stock 
makes  possible  a  very  low  price  for  a  paper 
which  often  presents  qualities  fairly  satisfac- 
tory for  use  in  fiction  and  other  ephemeral 
literature ;  but  any  large  percentage  of  wood 


Quality  of 
paper 


26o 


Hutbors  an^  pubUsbets 


platen  anb 

pveeeee 


pulp,  either  mechanical  or  chemical,  intro- 
duced into  the  paper  made  for  books  of  a 
permanent  character  must  be  considered  as  a 
serious  menace  to  the  lengthy  existence  of 
such  books.  Such  paper,  in  a  very  few  years, 
turns  yellow  when  exposed  to  the  light,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  becomes  brittle,  and  is 
easily  torn.  We  have  in  mind  volumes  which 
have  not  been  printed  more  than  ten  years, 
and  which  from  the  stock  used  in  the  paper 
present  a  very  decayed  and  dilapidated  appear- 
ance. It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some  simple  means 
may  be  discovered  by  which  the  paper  may 
be  tested  by  the  publisher  or  printer  for  the 
percentage  of  this  wood  pulp,  to  the  end  that 
only  paper  of  a  lasting  quality  may  be  used 
in  books  of  permanent  literature. 

Until  a  very  recent  date,  the  larger  part  of 
book-printing  was  done  on  what  is  known  as 
the  Adams  or  platen  press,  which  is  con- 
structed on  the  principle  of  taking  the  im- 
pression upon  the  entire  sheet  at  once  with 
one  upward  movement  of  the  bed  and  form. 
This  machine  has  now  been  almost  entirely 
superseded  by  the  cylinder  press  of  various 
manufacturers,  on  which  the  impression  is 
taken  on  the  sheet  by  the  form  passing  to  and 
fro  under  a  revolving  cylinder  which,  of 
course,  touches  but  a  segment  of  the  form  at 
once.  If  the  forms  are  properly  * '  made  ready, " 
the  best  possible  results  are  attained  on  these 


Zbc  /Dafttng  ot  SSool^s 


261 


presses,  while  the  speed  is  double  or  triple  that 
of  the  old-fashioned  platen  or  Adams  press. 

Making  Ready. — This  is  a  most  important 
operation  connected  with  good  presswork,  for 
on  its  proper  execution  largely  depends  the 
effective  appearance  of  the  printed  sheet.  It 
is  because  of  lack  of  care  under  this  head  that 
there  appear  so  many  carelessly  and  badly 
printed  books. 

The  "make  ready"  for  an  ordinary  volume 
of  plain  text  from  good  plates  is  a  compara- 
tively simple  matter,  but  when  it  comes  to 
preparing  the  "overlays"  for  fine  illustrated 
work  no  little  judgment  and  experience  are 
called  for  on  the  part  of  the  pressman.  For 
however  carefully  the  casting  and  finishing  of 
the  plates  may  have  been  done,  it  is  quite  im- 
possible to  obtain  a  number  of  plates  whose 
face  and  thickness  shall  be  absolutely  true. 
There  will  be  depressions  in  some  spots  where 
the  face  of  the  plate  in  printing  scarcely  touches 
the  paper,  and  similar  elevations  in  other 
places.  The  first  impression  on  the  sheet  is, 
therefore,  more  or  less  imperfect ;  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  pressman  to  overcome  these  ir- 
regularities by  the  aid  of  "overlays,"  and  un- 
til this  has  been  done,  the  press  is  not  permitted 
to  start  the  printing  of  the  edition. 

This  process  is  a  very  nice  one  and  it  re- 
quires, upon  the  part  of  the  pressman,  much 
care  and  experience  to  do  the  work  effectively. 


Aaking 
IRea^s 


262  Hutbots  an&  publisbers 

Aaiiing  Small  pieces  of  very  thin  paper  are  cut  with 
■Kcabie  great  care  and  pasted  on  the  impression  cylin- 
der in  the  spots  in  which  the  pressure  is  too 
light,  and  this  serves  to  even  up  the  irregulari- 
ties in  the  face  of  the  plate,  resulting  in  a  true 
and  perfect  impression  of  the  type. 

When  a  form  containing  illustrations  is  to 
be  printed,  the  work  of  overlaying  is  much 
more  complex,  and  the  expert  pressman 
should  possess  some  artistic  judgment  in 
order  that  the  form  may  show  effectively  in 
the  printed  sheet  the  design  of  the  artist.  Few 
people,  in  examining  a  finely  illustrated  book, 
realize  the  amount  of  time  and  care  required 
on  the  part  of  the  pressman  to  produce  such 
results,  and  they  would  be  surprised  to  see  the 
difference  between  the  first  impression  of  the 
sheet  and  the  same  after  the  form  is  properly 
made  ready. 

Indeed,  no  matter  how  effective  the  work 
of  the  artist,  if  the  pressman  fails  to  understand 
his  business,  the  result  cannot  but  be  unsatis- 
factory. 

To  make  ready,  properly,  a  form  of  sixteen 
cuts  may  often  require  the  labor  of  two  or 
three  days  on  the  part  of  the  pressman,  in 
building  up  the  "blacks,"  toning  down  the 
"half  tints,"  or  cutting  away  the  "high 
lights  "  of  the  design.  This  work  is  done  in 
the  same  general  way  as  already  explained  for 
the  text,  but  for  illustrations  the  process  is,  of 


Ube  /ftafting  of  Boofts 


263 


course,  a  much  more  delicate  one.  Paper  of 
about  the  thickness  of  tissue  is  used  in  making 
these  overlays,  and  a  form  of  cuts  may  often  re- 
quire hundreds  of  these  small  pieces  of  paper, 
of  every  conceivable  shape,  which  are  pasted 
upon  the  cylinder  before  the  press  can  be 
started. 

Book-binding. 

When  the  sheets  come  from  the  press  and 
are  properly  dried,  they  are  usually  subjected 
to  a  heavy  hydraulic  pressure  to  remove  the 
rough  surface  produced  by  the  indentation  of 
the  type,  and  they  are  then  ready  for  the 
bindery. 

Until  recent  years  the  folding  of  the  sheets 
was  done  by  hand.  Now  it  is  very  generally 
accomplished  by  folding-machines  which  pro- 
duce the  best  class  of  work  at  a  very  material 
saving  in  cost  over  hand  labor.  These 
machines  take  the  large  sheets  as  they  come 
from  the  press,  containing  say  sixty-four 
pages,  cut  these  into  four  sections  of  sixteen 
pages  each,  fold  and  deliver  the  "signatures," 
as  they  are  called,  into  different  channels  and 
in  proper  condition  for  "gathering."  Of 
course,  the  whole  edition  of  the  first  sheet  is 
thus  folded  before  the  second  sheet  is  taken 
in  hand.  It  is  thus  that  the  volume  proceeds 
through  the  bindery,  that  is,  each  operation  of 
the  many  through  which  the  book  has  to  pass 


Sinking 


264 


Butbors  an^  pubUsbers 


Oatbeting 

anb 
Collating 


being  practically  completed  before  the  next 
detail  is  taken  up,  so  that  when  the  last 
work  of  "casing  in"  is  reached  it  is  not 
unusual  to  have  the  whole  edition  of  the  book 
covered  and  put  into  the  drying-press  in  one 
day. 

Authors  frequently  ask  for  the  *'  first  copy  " 
of  their  books,  with  the  apparent  understand- 
ing that  the  manifold  operations  connected 
with  the  binder's  art  are  all  performed  by  one 
workman  and  that  therefore  there  may  exist 
a  considerable  interval  between  the  completion 
of  the  first  copy  and  the  finishing  of  the 
edition.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  as  just  pointed 
out,  there  is  no  "  first  copy,"  the  whole  edition 
being  completed  at  about  the  same  time. 

It  would  be  futile  in  a  volume  of  this  de- 
scription to  attempt  to  describe  in  detail  the 
many  complex  operations  required  in  trans- 
forming the  printed  sheets  into  the  completed 
and  bound  book.  Briefly  stated,  this  work, 
for  ordinary  "  edition  "  or  "  case  binding,"  is 
divided  into  three  divisions  :  (a)  folding  and 
gathering  the  printed  sheets,  (b)  forwarding, 
(c)  casing  in. 

The  folding-machines,  already  referred  to, 
do  their  work  with  surprising  rapidity  and 
accuracy,  the  sheets  being  fed  into  the  machine 
at  the  rate  of  two  thousand  per  hour,  and  if 
the  adjustment  is  correct  these  sheets  are 
delivered  with  as  correct  "  register  "  as  could 


Ube  ObaUrxQ  ot  JSool^ 


265 


be  accomplished  by  the  old-fashioned  hand 
folding.  These  folded  sheets  are  then  taken 
in  hand  by  the  "gatherers,"  who  place  them 
on  a  table  shaped  like  a  horseshoe,  the 
different  sheets  being  arranged  in  separate 
piles  and  in  consecutive  order.  The  gatherer 
then  walks  around  the  inside  of  this  table 
and  deftly,  and  with  great  rapidity,  "  gathers" 
the  sheets  by  taking  one  from  each  pile.  One 
circuit  of  the  table  usually  completes  a  book, 
and  before  the  gathered  sheets  are  ready  for 
sewing,  the  folded  sheets  must  be  "collated," 
that  is,  examined  to  see  that  the  signatures 
or  sheets  are  in  the  right  consecutive  order 
and  that  there  are  no  duplicates  and  no  sheets 
left  out. 

This  examination  would  seem  a  slow  and 
tedious  operation,  but  an  expert  girl  can  run 
through  a  large  number  of  sheets  with  sur- 
prising rapidity  and  it  is  very  rarely  the  case 
that  errors  appear  in  an  edition  of  a  carefully 
collated  volume. 

In  magazine  work,  an  ingenious  contriv- 
ance is  used  which  greatly  reduces  the  work 
of  collating  the  sheets.  This  consists  in  plac- 
ing a  mark  or  line  on  each  sheet  on  the  back 
of  the  fold.  This  is  done  on  the  press  when 
the  sheet  is  printed,  and  these  marks  or  bands 
are  so  arranged  on  each  signature  that  when 
the  magazine  sheets  are  properly  collated,  this 
band  will  show  on  the  back  of  each  pamphlet 


(Batbcdng 

anti 
(toUatina 


266 


Hutbor5  ant)  publisbers 


jfocwarba 

fng  an^ 

Casino  in 


( before  the  cover  is  put  on )  in  an  unbroken 
diagonal  line  from  end  to  end.  Should  any 
error  have  been  made  in  the  gathering,  either 
by  omitting  a  sheet  or  by  duplicating  one,  the 
blunder  will  show  itself  by  a  break  in  this 
band.  The  work  is  thus  very  rapidly  collated 
and  any  imperfect  copies  thrown  out  for  cor- 
rection. 

Now  the  collated  sheets  are  "smashed,"  or 
subjected  to  heavy  pressure  in  an  hydraulic 
press,  to  give  them  the  proper  degree  of  solid- 
ity, and  they  are  then  ready  for  sewing,  an 
operation  which  until  recent  years  was  done 
by  the  slow  hand  process,  but  now  is  almost 
always  accomplished  by  the  aid  of  a  most 
ingeniously  constructed  sewing  -  machine, 
which  not  only  turns  out  the  work  with 
greatly  increased  speed,  but  which  possesses 
the  further  advantage  of  producing  volumes 
that  will  open  more  easily  and  more  evenly 
than  was  apt  to  be  the  case  with  former  hand 
sewing. 

From  this  point,  the  book  is  now  taken  in 
hand  by  the  forwarding  department  and  the 
various  operations  through  which  it  has  to 
pass  are  too  technical  to  describe  here  in  detail. 

The  edges  of  the  books  are  trimmed  ( unless 
the  volume  is  to  be  left  "uncut"),  then  the 
backs  are  glued  to  hold  the  sheets  more  se- 
curely, and  the  end  papers  pasted  on.  The 
volumes  are  then  "rounded"  to  produce  the 


Ube  A>af;ind  ot  Books 


267 


proper  joint  in  which  the  cover  fits  and  also  to 
make  the  curved  back  to  the  book. 

The  work  is  then  practically  ready  for  the 
"  caser  in."  These  cases  or  cloth  covers  have 
in  the  meantime  been  prepared  in  another  de- 
partment and,  having  been  properly  stamped 
with  the  lettering  either  in  gold  or  ink,  are  in 
proper  shape  to  put  on  the  books  now  ready 
for  the  final  operation  of  the  binding  work. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  descrip- 
tion applies  solely  to  that  class  of  binding 
known  as  "edition"  or  "  case  work,"  for  the 
operations  of  "extra"  or  "library"  binding 
require  entirely  different  and  much  more  elabo- 
rate treatment.  And  here  it  may  be  in  order 
to  say  a  word  in  regard  to  the  difference 
between  American  and  foreign  cloth  binding. 
In  the  latter  it  has  never  been  considered 
necessary  to  treat  edition  work  as  anything 
more  than  a  temporary  covering  for  the  book ; 
hence,  abroad,  the  cloth-bound  books  are  lack- 
ing in  substantial  sewing  and  in  general 
strength  of  structure.  Here,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  the  intention  to  produce  case  work 
so  strongly  and  effectively  put  together  that 
the  books  may  open  well  and  at  the  same  time 
be  so  firmly  bound  as  to  stand  all  proper  usage 
and  to  remain  as  permanent  coverings  to  the 
volumes.  Hence  we  sometimes  hear  the  wish 
expressed  that  American  books  would  open 
"  more  freely,"  as  is  the  case  with  those  made 


fng  taib 
Casing  {n 


268 


Hutbors  an&  pubUsbers 


'C;reatment 
of  tbe 
JBbgce 


in  England,  and  the  fact  is  overlooked  that 
these  volumes,  which  in  this  particular  seem 
so  attractive  when  first  examined,  cannot  com- 
pare with  the  American  production  in  lasting 
qualities,  but,  because  of  their  slighter  sewing 
and  forwarding,  are  very  apt  to  fall  apart  after 
short  usage,  and  to  require  rebinding. 

The  question  as  to  whether  a  book  should 
be  trimmed  or  untrimmed  is  one  which  is 
largely  dependent  upon  what  its  future  use  is 
to  be.  If,  as  is  the  case  with  the  majority  of 
American  cloth-bound  books,  the  volume  is 
considered  to  be  in  its  permanent  form,  then 
it  is  often  more  convenient  and  satisfactory  to 
have  the  edges  trimmed.  But  when,  as  has 
just  been  stated,  the  cloth  case  is  looked  upon 
as  merely  a  temporary  covering  to  be  replaced 
later  on  by  the  special  library  binding  of  its 
individual  owner,  then  it  is  exceedingly  de- 
sirable to  leave  the  edges  entirely  untrimmed 
so  that  all  the  margin  possible  may  be  pre- 
served for  this  rebinding. 

Many  readers,  it  is  true,  find  the  opening  of 
the  uncut  leaves  somewhat  of  an  onerous 
task,  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  special 
satisfaction  to  many  who  thoroughly  appreci- 
ate a  new  book  to  have  the  pleasure  of  cut- 
ting the  folds,  with  the  feeling  that  no  previous 
reader  has  extracted  any  of  the  precious  con- 
tents from  this  particular  volume. 

What  is,  perhaps,  the  ideal  treatment  of  the 


Ube  HDaftina  ot  aBoofts  269 

cloth-bound  book,  is  to  trim  and  gild  the  top,  covet 
and  leave  the  front  and  foot  untouched  by  the  ®"^"« 
knife.  This,  while  minimizing  the  reader's 
labor  of  cutting,  still  preserves  the  margins  for 
possible  rebinding,  and,  further,  retains  for 
many  book-lovers  that  indescribable  charm  of 
freshness  which  is  associated  with  the  first 
opening  of  a  new  book. 

As  to  the  outside  cover  of  the  well  made 
cloth-bound  book,  it  may  be  said  that  there 
has  been  a  marked  improvement  in  this  di- 
rection during  the  last  few  years.  Not  long 
since  it  was  the  tendency  to  place  on  the  cov- 
ers elaborate,  and  often  totally  meaningless, 
designs  executed  frequently  in  several  colors 
of  ink.  While  this  tendency  to  meretricious 
ornamentation  has  not  entirely  disappeared 
among  bookmakers,  it  may,  happily,  be  said 
that  there  has  been  a  decided  gain  in  the  di- 
rection of  simpler  covers,  and  the  better  class 
of  new  issues  from  the  press  appear  with  no 
further  embellishment  than  a  plain  "old- 
style  "  lettering  on  the  back  and,  possibly, 
some  small  characteristic  design  on  the  side 
in  gold  if  the  work  be  of  a  character  which 
will  admit  of  some  such  distinctive  treatment. 

It  will  readily  be  appreciated  even  upon  the 
most  superficial  consideration  of  the  many 
operations  going  to  make  up  the  finished  book, 
that  judgment  and  experience  are  needed  to 
produce  a  satisfactory  result.     For  it  is  assur- 


270  Hutbors  anb  publisbers 


ube  edly  a  fact  that  we  may  often  take  up  a  vol- 
«a"e  ""^^  ^'^  which  many  of  the  mechanical  details 
JBook  have  been  well  carried  out,  and  yet  the  result 
is  far  from  pleasing  to  the  reader  who  appreci- 
ates a  well  constructed  book.  The  type  may 
be  good  in  itself,  and  yet  the  size  too  small  or 
too  compact  for  pleasant  reading,  or  type  and 
page  may  be  all  that  can  be  desired,  and  yet 
the  result  is  entirely  unsatisfactory,  either  be- 
cause of  the  use  of  poor  paper  or  because  of 
careless  and  gray  presswork. 

Then  again,  when  these  matters  have  all 
been  well  planned,  the  book,  as  a  whole,  may 
fall  far  short  of  being  an  ideal  production,  be- 
cause the  paper  selected  is  either  so  thin  as 
to  be  transparent,  or  so  thick  as  to  be  clumsy 
and  to  make  the  volume  unsatisfactory  to 
hold  in  the  hand.  When  all  these  details 
have  been  adjusted,  the  book  may  still  fail  of 
being  mechanically  perfect,  because  of  poor 
judgment  in  the  execution  of  the  binding. 
The  sewing  and  backing  may  be  too  tight,  so 
that  the  volume  will  not  open  easily,  or  the 
leaves  may  be  so  trimmed  as  to  lack  a  correct 
margin  to  the  page.  And,  finally,  when  all 
these  points  have  been  fully  considered,  the 
result  may  not  reach  the  proper  standard 
because  the  exterior  of  the  book  is  unsuitable 
or  out  of  keeping  with  its  contents,  and  how- 
ever well  executed  may  be  the  work  on  the 
inside,  if  the  selection  of  cover  and  the  treat- 


^be  /iDaMng  ot  Boofis 


271 


ment  of  the  same  be  not  in  harmony,  the 
result  can  never  be  entirely  satisfactory.  It 
is,  indeed,  the  harmonizing  and  adjusting  of 
all  the  manufacturing  details  which  produces 
the  book  that  at  least  in  its  mechanical  aspects 
is  delightful  both  to  the  eye  and  to  the  touch. 

Library  Bindings. — The  foregoing  remarks 
apply  more  particularly  to  what  is  known  as 
"  edition  work,"  and  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  artistic  binding  in  the  higher  sense  has  to 
do  with  the  special  treatment  of  the  individual 
volume  as  it  is  covered  and  embellished  by 
hand  in  the  various  leathers  suitable  for  such 
purposes. 

The  whole  method  pursued  in  the  execution 
of  such  binding — after  the  folding  and  collating 
of  the  sheets — is  entirely  different  from  that 
required  in  "case  work."  In  the  extra  bind- 
ing every  operation  has  to  be  performed  with 
great  care  and  the  progress  of  the  work  is 
necessarily  very  slow.  The  sewing  is  done 
by  hand,  and  with  what  is  technically  known 
as  "whip  stitching,"  and  the  cover  for  the 
volume,  instead  of  being  made  as  a  separate 
case  and  glued  on  to  the  book  as  in  cloth 
work,  is  cut  from  the  leather  and  after  the 
boards  are  properly  fitted  to  the  special  book 
and  fastened  securely  to  the  volume,  these  are 
covered  with  the  leather  which  has  been  pre- 
viously pared  where  it  is  to  turn  on  the  edges. 
The  whole  work  of  finishing  and  "tooling" 


Wbrarie 
Sin^ings 


272 


Hutbots  anD  pubUsbers 


SinMngs 


the  outside  of  the  volume  is  done  on  the 
covered  book,  and  not,  as  in  cloth  binding, 
by  machinery  on  the  detached  case. 

Sheepskin,  cow-skin,  calf,  and  morocco  of 
various  grades  are  used  for  this  library  work, 
the  first  two  being  as  a  rule,  leather  of  Ameri- 
can manufacture,  while  the  best  calfs  and 
moroccos  come  from  abroad.  Our  highest 
grade  of  levant  morocco  comes  to  us  from 
France.  This  is  one  of  the  most  expensive  of 
book  leathers,  being  made  of  goat  skin  and  sub- 
jected to  a  treatment  which  gives  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  leather  a  rich  and  heavy  grain,  and 
this  surface,  when  polished,  produces  by  far 
the  most  substantial  and  rich  book  covering. 

The  details  of  the  work  required  in  effective 
library  or  "extra"  binding  are  too  complex 
and  technical  to  admit  of  a  full  description  in 
this  manual.  As  before  noted,  each  book  is 
treated  individually,  and  the  processes  through 
which  it  passes  are  very  diverse  and  call  for 
much  greater  skill,  good  taste,  and  artistic 
feeling  on  the  part  of  the  operator  than  is 
demanded  in  edition  work,  as  the  latter  is 
mainly  turned  out  by  machinery.  It  may  not 
perhaps  be  amiss  to  describe  these  two  styles 
of  binding  as  bearing  somewhat  of  the  same 
relation  to  each  other  as  the  oil  painting  bears 
to  the  chromo.  The  former  shows  the  stamp 
and  individuality  of  the  artist,  while  the  latter 
is,  at  the  best,  but  a  mechanical  production. 


Ube  {fbnMnQ  ot  Boofts 


273 


No  one  unfamiliar  with  the  processes  of  the 
"extra"  department  in  a  bindery  can  realize 
how  many  operations  are  required  before  the 
volume  is  ready  for  its  owner.  All  the  work 
of  sewing,  rounding,  beating,  cutting  the 
boards  and  lacing  the  same,  and  covering,  is 
what  may  be  called  handicraft,  but  when  it 
comes  to  the  proper  "finishing  "  of  the  outside, 
the  work  may  be  considered  as  an  art,  and  as 
such  it  calls  for  no  small  amount  of  artistic 
judgment. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  even  in  the 
ordinary  half-calf  or  library  binding,  the  orna- 
mentations on  the  gilt  back  are  stamped  on 
individually  with  hand  tools,  and  when  a  full- 
bound  levant  book  is  to  be  finished,  it  is 
usually  necessary  to  make  a  drawing  of  the 
design  planned  for  the  side,  and  from  this  the 
finisher  works,  slowly  stamping  on  the  leather 
with  very  small  tools  the  design  planned  for, 
until  he  has  copied  in  gold  upon  the  side 
of  his  volume  the  complete  drawing  before 
him. 

To  be  able  to  plan  out  a  proper  scheme  for 
such  ornamentation  which  shall  be  in  harmony 
with  the  special  character  of  the  book  in  hand, 
and  to  "  tool  it "  to  effective  completion  is,  as 
may  be  supposed,  by  no  means  a  simple  task, 
and  it  must  be  confessed  that  the  number  of 
successful  "finishers"  in  the  United  States  is 
comparatively  small. 


£rtta 


274  Butbors  anb  pubUsbers 


t)ow  to  But  let  the  covering  of  the  volume  be  of  the 

»*oh»  ^^^^  ^"^  ^^^  finishing  all  that  the  most  exact- 
ing critic  can  demand,  if  the  earlier  and  more 
mechanical  operations  of  forwarding  have 
not  been  duly  attended  to,  the  result  cannot 
fail  of  being  unsatisfactory.  The  book  should 
be  solid,  it  should  (if  properly  handled)  open 
freely,  and  the  cover  boards  should  be  abso- 
lutely true  and  square.  But  now  when  we 
have  happily  arrived  at  all  these  results,  and, 
moreover,  have  succeeded  in  producing  an  ex- 
terior to  the  volume  which  is  in  keeping  with 
its  character,  and  the  tooling  is  artistically 
executed,  the  whole  result  of  our  work  may 
be  more  or  less  futile  if  the  book  is  not  handled 
carefully  when  it  leaves  the  bindery.  The  late 
William  Matthews,  than  whom  there  is  prob- 
ably no  higher  authority  in  connection  with 
the  proper  binding  of  books,  has  pointed 
out  in  his  Modern  Bookbinding  the  correct 
method  of  handling  the  newly  bound  volume. 
In  writing  this  he  evidently  had  a  keen  realiza- 
tion of  the  ignorance  shown  by  many  other- 
wise intelligent  people  in  their  use  of  finely 
bound  books.     Mr.  Matthews  says  : 

"Never  force  the  back  of  the  book  if  it  does 
not  yield  to  gentle  opening.  Rely  upon  it, 
the  back  is  too  tightly  or  strongly  lined.  A 
connoisseur  many  years  ago,  an  excellent  cus- 
tomer of  mine,  who  thought  he  knew  per- 
fectly how  to  handle  books,  came  into  my 


Ube  ObMm  ot  JSool^s 


275 


office  where  I  had  an  expensive  binding  just 
brought  from  the  bindery  ready  to  be  sent 
home.  He,  before  my  eyes,  took  hold  of  the 
volume,  and,  tightly  holding  the  leaves  in 
each  hand,  instead  of  allowing  them  free  play, 
violently  opened  it  in  the  centre,  and  ex- 
claimed, *  How  beautifully  your  bindings 
open ! '  I  almost  fainted.  He  had  broken 
the  back  of  the  volume,  and  it  had  to  be  re- 
bound!" 

Illustrations. 

A  volume  might  easily  be  devoted  to  the 
subject  of  the  designing,  engraving,  and  print- 
ing of  book  illustrations.  In  this  manual, 
however,  we  propose  merely  to  touch,  in  a 
very  superficial  manner,  upon  a  few  of  the 
methods  employed  in  making  such  illustra- 
tions.   These  may  be  mentioned  as  follows  : 

Steel-Plate  Engraving  and  Printing. — For 
the  general  purposes  of  book  illustration  this 
method  of  embellishment  is  somewhat  gone 
to  decay,  and,  except  in  connection  with 
portrait  work,  it  is  comparatively  but  little  in 
use  at  the  present  time.  There  are  several 
reasons  for  this,  the  principal  of  which  is 
doubtless  the  comparatively  high  cost.  The 
engraving,  in  the  first  place,  is  a  very 
slow  and  tedious  piece  of  work,  and  a  well 
made  portrait  on  steel  may  cost  all  the  way 
from  one  hundred  to  five  hundred  dollars. 
Then  the  printing,  being  an  operation  done 


steel* 

plate 

Sngtaving 


276 


autbors  arib  ipubUsbers 


Btcbinds 

anb  pbotoa 

gravutes 


entirely  by  hand,  is  necessarily  expensive  and 
is  therefore  not  at  all  suitable  for  books  of 
which  large  editions  are  expected.  The  use 
of  steel-engraving  for  illustrating  books  of 
ordinary  character  is  now  rarely  practised. 

Etchings  and  Photogravures. — In  many 
ways  the  etching  is  by  far  the  most  effective 
method  for  book  illustration.  It  presents  the 
design  in  exact  accord  with  the  artist's  con- 
ception, instead  of  having  this  reproduced  by 
means  more  or  less  mechanical.  Moreover, 
for  many  subjects,  notably  for  portraits,  it 
shows  the  artist's  work  with  a  strength  and 
richness  of  coloring  which  can  scarcely  be 
reached  by  any  other  method.  For  portrait 
work,  therefore,  the  etching  is  often  most  de- 
sirable, though  it  is  open  to  the  same  objection 
as  is  the  case  with  the  steel  plate  and  photo- 
gravure, it  being  even  more  expensive  to 
print  than  either  of  these  two  processes.  It  is 
also,  unfortunately,  the  case  that  for  portrait 
work  we  have  in  this  country  very  few  effect- 
ive etchers,  the  best  examples  of  the  art  com- 
ing to  us  from  Paris. 

The  Photogravure  plate  bears  a  strong  re- 
semblance to  the  etching  in  certain  particulars, 
but,  being  a  process  largely  mechanical,  it  fails 
in  producing  the  richness  of  the  etched  plate. 
For  the  reproduction  of  photographs  and  of 
paintings, the  photogravure  presents,  however, 
a  very  attractive  result,  although  it  is  open  to 


Ubc  /Daftina  ot  3Booft8  277 

the  same  objection  as  is  the  case  with  all  in-  Traooj>- 
taglio  work — the  current  cost  of  production  is  *^"^ 
expensive,  while  the  number  of  good  impres- 
sions which  can  be  obtained  from  a  plate  is 
not  over  three  or  four  thousand.  In  fact,  after 
a  thousand  impressions  there  will  often  be  a 
marked  deterioration  in  the  character  of  the 
print.  It  is  certainly  the  case,  however,  that 
very  rich  and  beautiful  effects  may  be  pro- 
duced in  photogravure  work  from  good  photo- 
graphic originals,  especially  in  landscape  ;  and 
when  but  a  limited  edition  is  planned  for, 
there  is  no  method  of  illustration  which  pro- 
duces more  desirable  results. 

Wood-Cuts. — In  many  ways  it  is  greatly  to 
be  regretted  that  this  method  of  book  illustra- 
tion, so  universal  fifteen  or  twenty  years  ago, 
has  so  generally  gone  out  of  use,  being  replaced 
by  the  much  more  mechanical  process  of 
photo-engraving  to  be  described  farther  on. 
The  art  of  the  wood-engraver  required  the  pos- 
session of  no  small  measure  of  artistic  sensi- 
bility as  well  as  mechanical  expertness  in  the 
use  of  the  graver.  All  the  better  known 
wood-engravers  treated  their  work  with  a  dis- 
tinct individuality  which  made  its  identity 
evident  to  any  one  at  all  familiar  with  the  sub- 
ject, and  yet  they  did  not  lose  sight  of  the 
importance  of  retaining  the  spirit  of  the  artist's 
design  in  the  reproduction  of  his  work.  This 
reproduction  in  the  more  or  less  hard  lines  of 


278 


Btttbots  anD  publishers 


Tsnooba 

Cuts 


wood-cutting  necessarily  had  its  limitations, 
and  to  present  in  the  engraving  the  artist's 
conception  in  its  true  values  was  a  work  re- 
quiring an  art  feeling  as  well  as  mechanical 
technique. 

It  is  only  within  comparatively  recent  years 
that  engravers  have  been  able  to  use  photo- 
graphy to  transfer  upon  the  block  the  design 
to  be  cut,  and  this  has  simplified  the  work  of 
the  artist,  because  the  drawing  can  now  be 
made  large  and  thus  treated  more  freely,  and 
it  can  then  be  reduced  by  photography  to  any 
size  in  transferring  it  upon  the  block.  The 
writer  can  well  remember  when  it  was  neces- 
sary for  the  designer  either  to  draw  the  picture 
directly  upon  the  block,  or  to  place  his  large 
design  in  the  hands  of  a  draughtsman  to  be  re- 
drawn on  the  wood  before  the  engraver  could 
commence  his  work.  Of  course,  this  addi- 
tional operation  opened  the  way  for  much 
criticism  upon  the  part  of  the  artist  as  to  the 
manner  of  treating  his  work,  and  the  instances 
were  many  in  which  the  designer  would  claim 
that  the  wood-cut  as  printed  failed  entirely  to 
show  the  character  or  the  true  values  of  his 
original  drawing. 

As  has  been  already  suggested,  but  very 
little  wood-engraving  now  appears  in  the  illus- 
trations of  the  ordinary  volume,  and  while  the 
methods  of  "process  work"  present  much 
that  is  attractive,  notably  from  an  economical 


Zbc  /Daltind  ot  Booths 


279 


standpoint,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  in  the 
profusion  of  such  illustrations  now  appearing 
we  must  look  in  vain  for  many  of  the  beauti- 
ful effects  shown  in  the  past  by  the  well 
engraved  wood-cut,  with  its  strength  and  its 
rich  gradations  of  color, — results  which,  un- 
fortunately, can  be  produced  only  at  a  cost  of 
from  ten  to  twenty  times  that  of  the  best 
photo-engraving. 

Photo-Engraving. — This  method  of  illus- 
tration is  now  used  in,  probably,  nine-tenths 
of  the  books  published  in  the  United  States. 
Speaking  generally,  it  is  divided  into  two 
styles  of  work  :  (a)  line  plates,  (b)  half-tone 
plates.  In  the  former,  the  reproduction  is 
done  entirely  mechanically  by  photography, 
and  the  subject  is  transferred  to  a  metal  plate, 
which  is  then  chemically  treated  and  all  the 
face  of  the  plate  eaten  away  but  the  lines  of 
the  design,  which  are  left  in  relief.  By  this 
process,  the  original  may  be  reduced  to  any 
size,  and  it  may  also  be  enlarged  if  this  is  de- 
sired, but  in  such  enlargement  the  character 
of  the  design  is  likely  to  be  somewhat  weak- 
ened. As  before  pointed  out,  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  this  method  is  its  cheapness,  and 
the  fact  that  the  plate  is  an  absolute  facsimile 
of  the  original ;  moreover,  the  photo-engraved 
plate  being  "type  high "  there  is  no  diflficulty 
in  printing  it  with  the  text  of  the  book.  It 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  subject  to  be 


pbOtOa 

Sn^rxvlna 


28o 


Hutbors  ant)  publisbets 


pboto* 
Bngraving 


reproduced  by  this  method  must  be  strictly 
in  "line"  work. 

If  the  picture  to  be  reproduced  is  a  wash 
drawing,  or  perchance  a  photograph,  the 
"half-tone"  method  {b)  must  be  employed. 
In  this,  a  screen  of  glass,  upon  which  appear 
lines  or  rules,  is  placed  between  the  subject 
and  the  camera.  The  closeness  of  the  lines 
varies,  dependent  upon  the  fineness  of  the  print 
desired,  but,  generally  speaking,  they  are  from 
one  hundred  and  twenty  to  one  hundred  and 
forty  to  the  inch.  By  the  aid  of  these  inter- 
secting lines,  the  surface  of  the  printing  plate 
is  broken  up,  and  a  magnifying  glass  will 
show  the  fine  cross  hatching  in  the  print. 

This  plate  is  much  finer  than  anything  made 
in  line  work,  and  if  the  original  is  good  and 
the  plate  carefully  printed,  the  result  is  often 
very  delicate  and  rich.  But  because  of  the 
fineness  and  shallowness  of  the  plate,  the 
printing  is  much  more  expensive  than  is  the 
case  with  line  work.  Further,  to  obtain  the 
best  results  from  these  half-tone  plates,  it  is 
essential  to  use  a  paper  of  high  surface  and 
soft  texture.  Hence  we  see  so  many  illus- 
trated books  now  printed  upon  what  is  known 
as  enamel-plated  paper,  which,  while  admit- 
ting of  a  fine  impression  of  the  plate,  is 
nevertheless  open  to  the  objection  of  being 
very  trying  to  the  eyes  of  the  reader  because 
of  its  high  or  glossy  surface. 


Ubc  /IDafting  ot  JSoofts 


281 


The  Heliotype  or  Gelatine  Process  of  illus- 
tration is  often  used  for  plates  of  which  there 
are  required  but  a  limited  number  of  copies. 
Portraits,  especially  from  photographs,  made 
in  this  way,  are  very  effective  for  books  of 
limited  editions,  and  are  of  comparatively 
small  cost.  They  present  most  nearly  the 
effect  of  the  photograph,  and  for  this  reason 
they  are  often  preferred  to  half-tone  plates, 
especially  in  the  case  of  portraits.  It  must 
be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  all  illustra- 
tions made  by  any  of  these  methods,  except 
the  wood-cut  and  the  relief  photo-engraving, 
require  separate  printing,  and  this  increases 
the  expense  of  both  printing  and  binding. 

There  are,  of  course,  many  other  forms  of 
illustrating,  but  few  of  these  are  appropriate 
for  use  in  connection  with  ordinary  book- 
work.  Lithograph  plates  are  sometimes  re- 
quired for  maps,  and  also  for  such  subjects  as 
require  to  be  produced  in  color.  The  objec- 
tion to  this  method  of  illustration  is  its  cost  in 
the  first  preparation  of  the  stone,  and  also  in 
the  current  cost  of  printing,  and  on  this  ground 
the  lithograph  cannot  be  recommended  for  the 
ordinary,  moderate-priced  volume.  There  are, 
however,  requirements  which  can  only  be  met 
by  the  use  of  printing  on  the  stone,  and  these 
arise  particularly  in  connection  with  colored 
medical  plates  and  with  similar  technical 
work,  but  it  must  be  confessed  that  such 


Ube 
fKliotcpe 
procee0 


282 


autbors  an&  publisbers 


Ube 

fKliot^pe 

process 


plates  are  engraved  and  printed  with  much 
greater  delicacy  and  accuracy  in  Paris  or  in 
Germany  than  can  be  accomplished  in  this 
country.  The  lithographic  work  of  the  map 
printers  of  Germany  is  also  of  a  high  degree 
of  excellence.  As  before  noted,  such  illus- 
trations are  only  suited  to  volumes  which  can 
command  a  high  retail  price. 


\ 


fnt)ej 


283 


Adams  press,  see  Printing-presses 

Advertising,  proportionate  outlay  for,  55  ^y  methods  of,  162 
ff;  by  circulars  \6<yffj  cost  of,  168^,  194;  outlays, 
lyjjT;  division  of  outlay,  163 

Agreements  and  estimates,  66 

Aldus  Manutius,  142 

Arbitration  in  literary  issues,  i6off 

Art  designs,  definition  of,  ^w  ff 

Articles,  in  periodicals  89,  ff;  in  Cyclopasdias,  94  ff 

Author^  The,  133,  158,  193 

Author's  proof,  see  under  Proof 

Authors,  grievances  of,  2,  37/  as  a  genus  irritabile,  4ff/ 
as  men  of  business,  12  ff;  ventures  of,  in  first  books, 
78  ff;  ownership  of  plates  and  of  copyright  by,  79 
ff;  freedom  of  action  of,  89  ;  rights  of,  in  Cyclopaedia 
contributions,  94  ff;  corrections  of,  103  ff;  obliga- 
tions of,  105^,  149  ;  delinquent,  113  ;  unwise  methods 
of  compensating,  117;  the  organization  of,  119  ^; 
the  interest  of,  in  continued  sales,  131  ff;  and  pub- 
lishers, the  personal  relations  of,  142  ff;  publishing 
undertakings  of,  158 

Authors'  Associations,  155^ 

Authors'  Society,  cost  of  publishing  books  as  estimated  by 
the,  190;  statistics  presented  by  the,  193 

Autocrat  of  the  Br eakfast-tahle,  144 


Vn&ex 


284 


Hutbors  an&  publisbers 


Inter         Ballantyne,  9 

Beginners  in  literature,  ^■^  ff 

Besant,  Sir  Walter,  3,  38,  148 

Boards  of  Arbitration,  \6off 

Bookbinding,  process  of,  263  _^y  folding  machines,  26^  ff; 
gathering  and  collating  of  sheets,  265  ff;  hand  and 
machine  sewing,  266 ;  forwarding  and  casing  in,  266 
ff;  "edition"  or  "case  work,"  26'j  ff;  "extra"  or 
"library  work,"  267  ;  difference  between  American 
and  foreign  cloth  binding,  267  ;  treatment  of  the  edges 
of  the  leaves,  268 _^y  library  bindings,  271  _^/  leathers 
used  in,  272  ;  cover  designs,  26gff,  273  ;  "  tooling," 
272,  273 

Book-buying  public,  the,  1 52  ff 

Book-manufacturing,  the  cost  of,  60,  1 92  ;  mechanical  oper- 
ations of,  235  ff 

Books,  the  percentage  of  failures  of,  2^ff;  as  a  literary 
property,  S6ff,  129  ;  the  value  of,  diminished  through 
scattering,  84  ff,  87  ff;  in  sets,  86,  139  ;  in  series, 
108  ff;  the  distribution  of,  1 78  ;  sent  on  sale,  1 79 
ff;  the  over-printing  of,  \9T  ff;  selling  price  of  Ameri- 
can, in  Great  Britain,  232  ;  estimates  of  manufacturing 
costs  of,  237  ;  dimensions  of,  237  _^y  how  to  handle, 
274 

Bookselling  methods,  75  ff 

British  Society  of  Authors,  133 

Brown,  James,  21 

Bungay  and  Bacon,  6 


Campbell,  Thomas,  the  famous  toast  of,  2 

Capital  for  publishing  undertakings,  inducements  for,  71  ff 

Catalogues,  and  book  lists,  163  ;  and  circulars,  distribution 

of,  164 
Children's  books,  royalties  on,  52 
Cicero  and  Atticus,  3 
Circulars,  use  of,  in  advertising,  165  ff 
Qassification,  the,  of  books  for  royalties,  46  ff 


luDei 


285 


Cloth-binding,  see  under  Bookbinding 

Commission  on  sales  as  compensation  for  the  publisher,  70 

Compositors,  duties  of  the,  2/^6  ff 

Consignment  accounts,  1 79  ff 

Constable,  Archibald,  8  ff;  the  Memoirs  of,  8 

Contracts,  difficulties  in  enforcing,  against  authors,  \\^  ff 

Copyright,  the  purchase  of,  ^<)  ;  objections  to  purchase  of, 
41  ;  the  ownership  of,  49  ;  in  Cyclopaedia  material,  94 
^/regulations  for  securing,  in  the  United  States,  205^., 
208,212,213,  215,  2\b  ff.,  218,  221,  227  ^.,  230  ; 
regulations  for  securing,  in  United  States,  for  works  of 
foreign  authors,  212,  213^.,  216,  2i8_/".,  222  ;  regu- 
lations for  securing,  in  Great  Britain,  22Sffj  for  articles 
in  periodicals  91  ff.,  215  ;  in  foreign  periodicals,  222 
ff;  the  protection  secured  by,  93,  205  _^.,  222  _^., 
229  jf/  term  of,  in  the  United  States,  204,  214  ff., 
218  ;  application  for  renewal  of,  2\A,ff;  for  new  edi- 
tions, and  separate  volumes  of  sets,  208,  212;  infringe- 
ment of,  208,  230  ff ;  penalties  for  infringement  of, 
208,  209  ff.,  214  ;  for  works  of  art,  211  ff.,  215  ff., 
226  ;  for  music,  227  ;  arrangements  for,  made  by  pub- 
lishers, 227,  228,  231 ff 

Copyright  entries,  regulations  for  notice  of,  204,  207,  223  ; 
certificates  of,  206  ff.,  213,  215,  227  ;  fees  for,  in 
United  States,  207,  213,  222 

Copyright  Law  in  the  United  States,  text  of,  203-212  ; 
Law  of  1 89 1,  analysis  of,  2\']  ff ;  the  Sherman  amend- 
ment, 22j\ff 

Copyright  relations  of  the  United  States  with  foreign  States, 
217 

Courts  of  Arbitration,  160^ 

Criticisms  of  publishers,  202 

Curtis,  Geo.  Wm.,  on  publishers  and  editors,  \^  ff 

Cyclopaedias,  articles  in,  94^ 

Cylinder  press,  see  Printing-presses 


Infeer 


Designs  for  book  covers,  see  Bookbinding 


286 


Hutbors  an^  publisbets 


Inftet         Dictionary  of  National  'Biography,  95 
Discounts  to  the  trade,  75  ff 
Distribution  of  new  books,  the,  196 

Edition  or  case  work,  see  Bookbinding 

Educational  books,  royalties  on,  5 1 

Electrotype  plates,  relative  cost  of,  and  standing  type,  257 

Elzevir,  Louis,  142 

English  Men  of  Letters  Series,  40,  108 

Erasmus,  142 

Estienne,  Robert,  142 

Estimates  and  agreements,  66,  75  ff 

Etching,  desirability  of,  for  book  illustration,  276  ;  cost  of, 
276 

Extra  corrections,  103  ff;  how  to  avoid  the  necessity  for, 
248,  252  ;  cost  of,  251,  253  ;  time  requisite  for  making, 
252  ;  equity  of  author's  bearing  the  expense  of,  251  ^ 

Expenses  of  publishing,  61  ff 

"Fallibility"  in  book  manufacturing,  198;  in  publishing, 

198  # 
Farrar's  Life  of  Christ,  42 
Fiction  in  paper  covers,  55  ;  in  serial  form,  90,  \2T  ff;  as 

property,  134  ;  not  the  whole  of  literature,  134 
Fields,  James  T.,  22,  143 

First  books,  83,  134^;  author's  ventures  in,  78^ 
Forwarding  and  casing  in,  see  Bookbinding 
Franklin  press,  see  Printing-presses 
Friendship  and  business,  150 
Froben,  of  Basel,  142 
Fumivall,  F.  J.,  24 

Grub  Street,  6 

Half-profit  system,  the,  ^^  ff;  objections  to,  ^()ff 

Half-tone  plates,  see  Photo-engraving 

Hare,  Archdeacon,  23  ;  Guesses  at  Truth,  by,  23 


fn&ej 


287 


Heliotype,  or  Gelatine  Process,  28 1  ff 
Heroes  of  the  Nations  Series,  40,  108 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  the  relations  of,  with  his  publish- 
ers, 143 
Horace,  and  his  publishers^  a 
Howe,  George,  21 

Howells,  W.  D.,  on  the  business  relations  of  authors,  i2_^ 
Hughes,  Thomas,  on  Daniel  Macmillan,  x^ff 


1n^er 


Ideal  publishing  arrangement,  the,  150 

Illustrations,  275-28 1 ;  steel-plate  engraving  and  printing,  275 
ff;  etchings  276  ;  photogravure,  276  ff;  wood-cuts, 
211  ff;  economy  of  "process  work,"  278,  279  ;  photo- 
engraving, 21^  ff;  heliotype  or  gelatine  process,  281 

Ink,  quality  of  modern,  258^ 

Insurance  on  authors'  property,  79 

International  Science  Series,  40,  108 

Interview  of  author  v^ath  publisher,  30 

Irving,  Washington,  xoff,  79,  175  ;  and  his  American  pub- 
lisher, 16;  letter  of,  to  George  P.  Putnam,  25  ;  The 
Sketch  Book  of,  79 

"Joint  Account,"  publishing  for  the,  65 
Joint  interest  of  author  and  publisher,  100^ 

Koberger,  of  Nuremberg,  142 

Leather-binding,  see  under  Bookbinding 

Lessing,  and  his  publishing  association,  155 

Libraries,  catalogues  for  the,  1 64 

Library  work,  see  Bookbinding 

Line  plates,  see  Photo-engraving 

Literary  agent,  the,  M^ff,  '34#;  certain  disadvantages  in 
the  work  of,  \2^ff;  business  interest  of,  132  ;  and 
young  authors,  136  ff;  commission  of,  139  ;  as  a 
possible  publisher,  140  ;  qualifications  of,  141  ;  sug- 
gestions of,  151 


288 


Hutbors  anD  ipublisbers 


f  n6er         Literary  board  of  arbitration,  plan  for  the  organization  of, 

Literary  brokerage,  137 
Literary  courts,  121,  201 
Literary  delinquencies,  instances  of,  113^ 
Literary  labor  not  rewarded  in  proportion  to  its  extent,  185 
Literary  material,  the  commercial  value  of,  z6  ff 
Literary  producers,  the  earnings  of,  8  ff 
Literary  production,  centres  of,  in  the  United  States,  31 
Literary  workers,  suggestions  for,  -^6  ff 
Literature,  the  market  value  of,  7  ff 
Lithograph  plates,  281  ff ;  expense  of,  281 
Little,  Brown,  &  Co.,  21 
Lockhart's  Life  of  Scott,  8 
Longmans,  the  House  of,  23,  143 

Losses,  division  of,  64 ;  through  delays,  106  ff;  and  prof- 
its, 190 

Macmillan,  Daniel,  19  ff;  the  Memoirs  of,  23  ff;  the 
House  of,  24,  143 

Magazines,  publishing  methods  of,  91  ff 

Making  ready,  see  Presswork 

Manufacturing  commissions,  64 

Manufacturing  estimates,  75  ff 

Manuscript,  examination  of  the,  26  ff,  32  ;  preparation  of, 
for  the  press,  235  _^;  number  of  words  in  a,  236  ;  in 
the  hands  of  the  compositors,  246  ;  necessity  for  care- 
ful revision  of,  by  author,  "2.^^  ff,  253 

Martial  and  his  publishers,  2 

Matthews,  William,  on  handling  of  books,  274^ 

Morse,  John  T.,  on  the  publishing  relations  of  Holmes,  143 

Murray,  John,  the  Memoirs  of,  9  ff ;  and  his  authors,  10  ; 
the  House  of,  23  _^ 

Murray,  John  (the  2d),  79,  142  ;  as  a  counsellor,  145 

Musurus,  142 

Napoleon,  orders  a  publisher  to  be  shot,  3 
New  authors,  speculation  in,  84  _^ 


*Int)ej 


289 


New  York,  the  Authors'  Association  of,  1 56 
News  stands,  as  selling  machinery,  \S\  ff 
Novels,  in  cheap  forms,  royalties  on,  54  ;  cost  of  produc- 
tion of,  55  ;  prices  of,  55 


fnbec 


Obligations,  under  the  publishing  agreement  o^ff;  of  the 

author,  ()%  ff 
Office  proof,  see  under  Proof 
On  sale  accounts,  179^ 
Overlays,  see  Presswork 


Page,  appearance  of  the,  changed  by  "  leads,"  238  ff ; 
what  constitutes  a  well-proportioned,  244  ;  use  of  cap- 
tions, side  notes,  folios,  etc.,  on  the,  244  ff 

Pages,  specimen,  showing  different  styles  of  type,  240-243  ; 
specimen,  showing  corrections,  254  ff 

Palm,  Johann  Philipp,  shot  by  order  of  Napoleon,  2 

Paper,  use  of  wood  pulp  in  manufacture  of,  258  ff 

Paris  Authors'  Association,  the,  156 

Pendennis  and  his  poems,  6 

Periodicals,  arrangements  with,  90  ff;  selection  of,  for  ad- 
vertising, 169,^ 

Perkins,  Frederick  B.,  on  publishers,  i8 

Permanency  of  tenure,  151 

Personal  relations  of  authors  and  publishers,  142^ 

Perthes,  142 

Photo-engraving,  279  ff;  advantage  of  this  process,  279  ; 
use  of  line-plates  in,  279  ;  use  of  half-tone  plates,  279 
ff;  use  of  enamel-plated  paper  in  half-tone  plates,  280 

Photogravure,  results  of,  2']6ff;  objections  to,  277 

Plantin,  of  Antwerp,  142,  258 

Posters,  166^ 

Presswork,  ancient  and  modem  compared,  258  ;  making 
ready  an  important  operation  in  good,  261  ff;  prepa- 
ration of  overlays,  261  ff 

Printing,  the  cost  of,  1 92 


290 


Hutbors  an&  publisbers 


f  n^er  Printing-presses,  comparison  of  ancient  and  modem,  258  ffj 
Franklin  press,  259 ;  Adams  or  platen  press,  260; 
Cylinder  press,  260 

Process  work,  279-282 

Professional  advisers,  63 

Professor  at  the  Breakfast  Table,  the,  144 

Profits,  division  of,  between  author  and  publisher,  47  ff^ 
64  ff^  68,  231  ffi  "secret,"  65  ;  of  literary  work, 
185  ;  and  losses,  190 

Proof,  first  or  office,  247 ;  second  or  author's,  247  ff; 
"planer"  and  plate,  250  ;  information  concerning  cor- 
recting, 1^2  ff ;  signs  used  in  correcting,  256 

Proof-reader,  duties  of  the,  247,  250,  252  ;  corrections  of 
the,  254 

Publications  "for  the  account  of  the  author,"  74^ 

Publisher,  the  search  for  the,  28 

Publishers,  the  sins  of,  i  ff ;  and  their  clients,  the  record 
of,  6  ;  the  Memoirs  of,  1 1  ff  j  a  motto  for,  25  ;  office 
hours  of,  6-}  ;  literary  circle  of,  145  ;  not  objectors  to 
Authors'  Publishing  Associations,  159 

Publishing  arrangements,  the  basis  of,  38 ;  the  different 
methods  of,  39^,  ^  ff;  for  "joint  account,"  65; 
usual  terms  of  agreements  under,  74  ;  summary  of,  82  ; 
good  faith  in,  116  ff;  necessity  for  formal  contracts 
in,  147 

Publishing  calculations,  102^ 

Publishing  capital,  inducements  for,  71  ff;  the  mainten- 
ance of,  1 88  ff 

Publishing  centres  in  the  United  States,  3 1 

Publishing  connections  and  imprints,  value  of,  for  the 
author,  66,  69,  70,  183,  184 

Publishing  office,  routine  of  work  in  the,  62 

Publishing  outlays,  77  ff 

Publishing  relations,  changes  in  the  condition  of,  120;  pre- 
cision in,  147  ;  records  at  the  disposal  of  the  author, 

•33 
Publishing  service,  the  value  of,  73,  175^ 


fn^er 


291 


Publishing  undertakings,  the  basis  of,  10 1  ;  the  risk  in,  3 
ff,  ^35ff>  the  cost  of,  191,  194 /"y  "fallibility"  in, 
i98# 

Putnam,  George  P.,  11,  19,  143,  175;  and  Washington 
Irving,  145 

Tutnam's  Monthly,  91 

"  Readers  "  of  manuscript,  31 

Record  of  sales,  at  the  disposal  of  the  author,  153 

"  Remainders,"  the  cost  of,  196^^ 

Reuchlin,  142 

Reviews,  use  of,  for  advertising,  166,  171  ;  proper  function 

of,  1 72  ;  the  service  of,  1 76 
Reviewers,  personal  relations  with,  1 77 
Risks  in  publishing,  135^  187 
Royalty  System,  the,  44^ 

Royalty,  books  excepted  from,  56  ;  commutation  of,  56 
Ruskin,  John,  73 

Sales  of  books,  152 

Salesmen,  the  cost  of,  195  ;  travelling  expenses  of,  195 

Scientific  author,  the  case  of  a,  96^  97 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  8J^;  and  Constable,  146 

Show-bills,  166 

Smith  and  Elder,  6 

Society  of  Authors  of  London,  157 

Sosii,  the,  publishers  for  Horace,  2 

Speculation,  in  copyrights,  43  ;   in  new  authors,  84^/  in 

literary  ventures,  134^ 
Steel-engraving  and  printing,  a  slow  process,  275  ;  cost  of, 

275^ 
Story  of  the  Nations  Series,  40,  108 
Subscription  books,  royalties  on,  53  ^ 
Syndicating  agencies,  93  ;  arrangements,  93,  126  J^ 

Thackeray  and  his  publishers,  6 
Ticknor  and  Fields,  22 


fndet 


292 


Hutbors  anO  publisbers 


ln^er        Tooling,  see  Bookbinding 

Type,  sizes  of,  most  frequently  used,  238  ;  specimen  of  Pica, 
240  ;  specimen  of  Small  Pica,  241  ;  specimen  of  Long 
Primer,  242  ;  specimen  of  Brevier,  243  ;  standard  of 
measure  in  setting,  245  ;  cost  of  standing,  and  electro- 
type plates,  257 

Uniform  Editions,  desirability  of,  86 

Ward,  Julius  H.,  on  the  publisher's  vocation,  \gff 
Wood-cuts,  limitations  in  reproduction  of,  277  ffj  individ- 
uality of  treatment  in,  277  ;  use  of  photography  in, 
278  ;  beautiful  effects  in,  277,  279 

Youmans,  Edward  L.,  40 

Young  writers  and  their  first  undertakings,  88 


i 


aBoofts  for  Hutbors 


Authors  and  Publishers 

A    MANUAL   OF   SUGGESTIONS    FOR    BEGINNERS 
IN  LITERATURE 

Comprising  a  description  of  publishing  me- 
thods and  arrangements,  directions  for  the 
preparation  of  MSS.  for  the  press,  explana- 
tions of  the  details  of  book-manufacturing, 
instructions  for  proof-reading,  specimens  of 
typography,  the  text  of  the  United  States 
Copyright  Law,  and  information  concerning 
International  Copyrights,  together  with 
general  hints  for  authors.  By  G.  H.  P.  and 
J.  B.  P. 

Seventh  Edition,  re-written  with  additional  material.  8", 
gilt  top $''75 

CHIEF  CONTENTS 

Part  I. — Publishing  arrangements — Books  published  at 
the  risk  and  expense  of  the  publisher — Books  published  for 
the  account  of  the  author,  i.  e.,  at  the  author's  risk  and 
expense,  or  in  which  he  assumes  a  portion  of  the  invest- 
ment— Publishing  arrangements  for  productions  first  printed 
in  periodicals  or  cyclopaedias — The  literary  agent — Authors' 
associations — Advertising — On  securing  copyright. 

Part  II. — The  Making  of  Books — Composition — Electro- 
typing — Presswork — Bookbinding — Illustrations. 

"  Full  of  valuable  information  for  authors  and  writeri  ...  A 
most  instructive  and  ezceUent  manual." — George  Wm.  Curtis  in 
Harper' i  Magazine. 

"  This  handy  and  useful  book  is  written  with  perfect  fairness  and 
abounds  in  hints  which  writers  will  do  well  to  '  make  a  note  of ' 
.  .  .  _  There  is  a  host  of  other  matters  treated  succinctly  and  lucidly 
which  it  behoves  beginners  in  literature  to  know,  and  we  can  recom- 
mend  it  most  heartily  to  iixcra."  ^London  Spectator. 


Butbovs 

and 

publisbecs 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New  York  and  London 


35oofts  for  autbors 


Butbors 
an^  Ubcir 
public  in 
Undent 
Uimee 


AUTHORS  AND  THEIR 
PUBLIC  IN  ANCIENT 
TIMES    :::::: 

A  Sketch  of  Literary  Conditions  and  of  the 
Relations  with  the  Public  of  Literary  Pro- 
ducers, from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire. 


\ 


By  GEO.  HAVEN  PUTNAM,  A.M. 


Third  Edition,  revised.     12° ,  gilt  top. 


$1.50 


"  The  Knickerbocker  Press  appears  almost  at  its  best  in  the  deli- 
cately simple  and  yet  attractive  form  which  it  has  given  to  this  work 
wherein  the  chief  of  a  celebrated  publishing  house  sketches  the 
gradual  evolution  of  the  idea  of  literary  property,  .  .  .  The  book 
abounds  in  information,  is  written  in  a  delightfully  succinct  and  agree- 
able manner,  with  apt  comparisons  that  are  often  humorous,  and  with 
scrupulous  exactness  to  statement,  and  without  a  sign  of  partiality 
either  from  an  author's  or  a  publisher's  point  of  view." — New  York 
Times. 

"  A  most  instructive  book  for  the  thoughtful  and  curious  reader. 

.  .  The  author's  account  of  the  literary  development  of  Greece 
is  evidence  of  careful  investigation  and  of  scholarly  judgment.  Mr. 
Putnam  writes  in  a  way  to  instruct  a  scholar  and  to  Interest  the 
general  reader.  He  has  been  exceptionally  successful  in  describing 
the  progress  of  letters,  the  peculiar  environment  of  those  who  are  in- 
terested in  the  career  of  the  dramatist  and  the  philosopher,  and  that 
habit  of  mind  characteristic  of  Hellenic  life." — Philadelphia  Press. 

"  The  work  shows  broad  cultivation,  careful  scholarly  research,  and 
original  thought.  The  style  is  simple  and  straightforward,  and  the 
volume  is  both  attractive  and  valuable." — Richmond  Timet. 


I 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New  York  and  London 


Books  tor  Hutbors 


Books  and  Their  Makers 
During  the  Middle  Ages 

A  Study  of  the  Conditions  of  the  Production 
and  Distribution  of  Literature  from  the  Fall 
of  the  Roman  Empire  to  the  Close  of  the 
Seventeenth  Century. 


By  GEO.  HAVEN  PUTNAM,  A.M. 


Two  volumes.    8",  gilt  tops,  each 


S2.30 


CHIEF   CONTENTS 


Volume  I.    4j6-i6oo 

Part  I. — Books  ik  Manuscript — The  Making  of  Books  in 
the  Monasteries — Some  Libraries  of  the  Manuscript  Period — 
The  Making  of  Books  in  the  Early  Universities — Book-Trade 
in  the  Manuscript  Period. 

Part  11. — The  Earlier  Printed  Books — The  Renaissance 
as  the  Forerunner  of  the  Printing-Press — The  Invention  of 
Printing  and  the  Work  of  the  First  Printers  of  Holland  and 
Germany — The  Printer-Publishers  of  Italy. 

Volume  II.     I ^00-/ y op 

The  Printer- Publishers  of  France — The  Later  Estiennes 
and  Casaubon — Caxton  and  the  Introduction  of  Printing 
into  England — The  Kobergers  of  Nuremberg — Froben  of 
Basel — Erasmus  and  his  Books — Luther  as  an  Author — 
Plantin  of  Antwerp — The  Elzevirs  of  Leyden  and  Amster- 
dam— Italy  :  Privileges  and  Censorship— Germany :  Privi- 
leges and  Book-Trade  Regulations — France  :  Privileges  and 
Censorship,  and  Legislation — England  :  Privileges,  Censor- 
ship, and  Legislation.  Conclusion  :  The  Development  of 
the  Conception  of  Literary  Property. 


Sooks  an^ 

Ubeic 

atnUcvg 

S)udng  tbe 
AiDMe 
Bges 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New  York  and  London 


JSoofts  tor  Hutbors 


ZbC  dfUBm 

tion  of 
Copcrfgbt 


The  Question  of  Copyright 

Comprising  the  text  of  the  Copyright  Law  of 
the  United  States,  and  a  summary  of  the 
Copyright  laws  at  present  in  force  in  the 
chief  countries  of  the  world ;  together  with 
a  report  of  the  legislation  now  pending  in 
Great  Britain,  a  sketch  of  the  contest  in  the 
United  States,  1837-1891,  in  behalf  of  Inter- 
national Copyright,  and  certain  papers  on 
the  development  of  the  conception  of  lit- 
erary property  and  on  the  results  of  the 
American  law  of  189 1. 

COMPILED   BY 

GEO.  HAVEN    PUTNAM,  A.M., 

Secretary  of  the  American  Publishers'  Copyright  League. 

Second  Edition,  revised,  with  additions,  and  with  the  re- 
cord of  legislation  brought  down  to  March  1896.  Octavo, 
gilt  top $i.j^ 

CHIEF  CONTENTS 
The  law  of  Copyright  in  the  U.S.  in  force  July  i,  1895 — 
Directions  for  securing  Copyright — Countries  witli  which 
the  U.  S.  is  now  in  Copynght  relations — Amendments  to 
the  Copyright  Act  since  July  1,  1891 — History  of  the  con- 
test for  International  Copyright — Analysis  of  the  provisions 
of  the  Act  of  1891 — Summary  of  the  International  Copy- 
right cases  and  decisions  since  the  Act  of  1891 — Abstract  of 
the  Copyright  laws  of  Great  Britain,  with  a  digest  of  the 
same  by  Sir  James  Stephen — The  Monkswell  Copyright  bill 
of  1890,  with  an  analysis  by  Sir  Frederick  Pollock — The 
Berne  Convention  of  1887 — Literary  Property  :  an  historical 
sketch — Statutory  Copynght  in  England,  by  R.  R.  Bowker 
— Cheap  Books  and  Good  Books  by  Brander  Matthews — 
Copyright  and  the  prices  of  Books — Summary  of  the  exist- 
ing Copyright  laws  of  the  world  (March,  1896) — The  status 
of  Canada  in  regard  to  Copyright,  January,  1896. 

"  A  perfect  arsenal  of  facts  and  arguments,  carefully  elaborated  and 
very  enectively  presented.  .  .  .  Altogether  it  constitutes  an  ex- 
tremely valuable  history^  of  the  development  of  a  very  intricate  nght 
of  property,  and  it  i*  as  interesting  as  it  is  valuable." — A''.  V,  Nation, 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS,  New   York  and  London 


/fT7 


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